


Baby Makes Three

by PlayfulMay



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hands, Pregnant, Teasing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-04-20 21:44:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4803305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayfulMay/pseuds/PlayfulMay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Phryne welcome a special addition into their lives, and friends and family hang on for the glorious ride. The chapters of this story will provide glimpses - over periods of time - into their new and exciting lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bun in the Oven

Phryne sat lounging in the backyard with a large, white sun hat keeping her pale cheeks from the harsh sun. She smiled into a book with both feet up - the floor-length dress draped over her legs but not her arms. She had long since discarded her shawl to feel the breeze flush over her shoulders.

The sound of some rumbled conversation from inside the house intensified Phryne's smile. She would recognize that voice anywhere. In fact, it was just the voice she had been waiting to hear. Just as quickly as she realized who had arrived, the voice came from the back porch as it travelled closer toward her.

"Red as a tomato yet?"

Phryne tipped her head back and held on her hat with a free hand as she collected the upside down kiss she knew all too well. It was a soft, chaste kiss considering the night they shared. Phryne beamed as her lover drew back to walk around and take notice of the book in her hands.

"Hope I wasn't interrupting."

Phryne kept her head leaned back against the chair to appreciate the sight before her: Jack in his usual ridiculously-layered suit. She admired the man openly for a moment before opting to respond: "Yes ... you were, but it was a welcomed distraction."

"Well then, maybe I could dare to sit with you a while," Jack teased, pulling a secret smile Phryne had only learned once they had begun their romantic relationship in earnest. She sighed with satisfaction at the comfort Jack felt around her, tucking her legs under her bottom to allow him some space to sit.

"Please. Take a load off," she smiled, indicating it had been a good day.

Jack was so pleased to see her happiness that he eagerly reached a hand out to her abdomen - his hand just hovering until he could ask: "May I?"

Phryne arched just a little from the pillow at her lower back, and chuckled: "Still asking permission, are you?"

Jack's steady, teasing gaze and insistently-polite touch had Phryne laughing with gusto: "Yes, Jack! Of course." She watched his large hand settle on her before smoothing over the bump with a satisfied moan.

"Mmm ... safe and healthy, I see."

"You can't possibly know that," Phryne chuckled, shaking her head to split open her book as if she would rather read than converse.

Jack pulled down the book with his index finger - carefully tucking in her bookmark to set the book down by his feet, on the grass.

Phryne watched him take the liberty with lust behind her eyes. She had been desperate to have him please her all day since she'd woken early that morning, but she still refused to act on her hormones. She settled her head back after realizing she had been slowly curling up toward him.

"There," Jack grinned, having removed her distraction to brace his hands on either side of her hips to lean a little closer and plant a longer kiss on her painted lips. Just before making contact, he lingered. "Now it's just you and I ..."

The smirk fell from Phryne's lips, and she pushed herself up to close the space between them. A kiss from Jack could have her completely undone in her current state, but she still fought to control it.

A kiss from Phryne could be seared into his mind all day, thinking back to the feel of her in his arms. Thankfully, Jack was off work for the day - claiming the time off gladly to spend it with her. The woman he loved.

"Jack ..." she moaned, tilting her chin down so their foreheads touched. "Jack ... will you stay tonight?"

The very question had Jack exhale a single burst of laughter. "You think I would do renovations on the house tonight when I could be spending it with you ...?"

Phryne sank back into the chair with contentment for Jack's romance. It was such moments - when Phryne wanted to admit she needed his tenderness but couldn't - that she was so grateful for him. Jack's presence was a soothing vice that Phryne hadn't been able to go without for the past few weeks. It was a need she frequently apologized for, but as she went to apologize then, Jack dropped a finger over her lips.

"Shh ... don't you dare say it." He was looking at Phryne with such friendliness and respect that she shone anew. He softened the finger on her lips and smiled: "I wanted to come see you, and nothing could pull me away."

Phryne laughed, rolling her eyes. "A murder very well might."

"No one's being murdered today," Jack joked darkly, his finger idly tracing over her cheek. "I won't allow it."

"Well how considerate of you to allow them killing each other all the other days of the year," Phryne quipped back with sass to see that Jack had an entirely different look in his eyes. When her feisty attitude slipped into their conversations, Jack always seemed sensually emboldened by it. He touched her more. He stared a little longer. He became a little more adventurous. Phryne smiled when she noted the change, and moved to get up when she felt him readily at her side - willing to help her to her feet. "I'm quite certain I can do this part on my own."

Jack ceded her wishes, and watched her angle herself properly to stand. Since the weight at her front had so increased, she had needed to become more strategic about her balance. Jack watched with love and admiration for the many changes and sacrifices her body made every day because of their decision.

At first, Phryne had admitted to never wanting a child, but after they had come to know one another better, that had changed. Babies were a part of their investigations from time-to-time, and as Jack and Phryne became romantically involved, she expressed her very confusing maternal desire. And there she stood, six months pregnant.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Jack asked, offering out an arm to her as they made their way toward the house again. Having Phryne hold onto him for support pleased Jack with a swelling pride at his place in her life and in her heart. At the beginning of their romance, he had been skeptical of a long-lasting relationship, but there he stood at her side. She seemed to be endlessly content to remain monogamous with him, and for that Jack was eternally grateful. He didn't always understand how she had come so far, but he was certainly glad for it. He only loved her more every day he woke up at her side.

Phryne took advantage of his goofy-smiled silence to take the stairs carefully one at a time before they entered the kitchen from the back door. "Yes, I have ... Emerson. I like that it's complimentary of yours."

"Well it's either going to be a boy with the name you choose or a girl with the name I choose ... but I still think it'll be a boy," Jack teased.

"Not on your life, Inspector," Phryne teased in return, both of them interrupted by a bustling Dorothy Williams hurrying to the pantry.

"Oh, hi Miss!" she smiled enthusiastically, grabbing three small candies from a tin hidden away in the pantry to poke back out again. "I didn't know you'd be back inside so soon. I just have the kids looking for a prize I've forgotten to hide in all the chaos!"

Jack made an unreadable face to Dot, but Phryne chuckled and waved her off: "Oh, no need to explain, Dot. The Inspector just wanted to feed me, I'm sure. He never feels I'm quite large enough these days."

When Dot pressed her lips into a smile and hurried off again, Jack rolled his eyes and helped Phryne to a seat at the island counter.

"Careful with what you say about me feeding you," he suggested in a low and seductive tone: "You'll have them think it's a perversion."

Phryne watched him with a quirky smile settling on her lips, swooning over the man who always made certain she felt loved and protected. Since becoming pregnant, Phryne had become quite self conscious, and only able to shuck the scary insecurities off with his constant devotion to her ever-changing body. She couldn't imagine how any woman went through a pregnancy alone - she almost wished to lend out her Jack for a night to lonely mother-to-be. 'Well,' she thought to herself as she watched him bend to get the flour from the bottom shelf, 'perhaps not ...'

"What do you say to ... buns? The ones Miss Williams taught me to make?"

Phryne's smile took over her entire expression as her chin fell into her hands. Jack's ability to become his own type of modern man never ceased to amaze her - cooking, cleaning, and she had even caught him mending one of her shirts. She always felt more willing to bend her views when he demonstrated first.

Jack always knew how to read Phryne's gazes, but that particular day, they seemed just a little more appreciative than usual. He arched a brow as he stood there with the flour - unanswered.

"Or maybe you'd rather I helped you get some rest ...?" he insinuated, forever willing to appease her sexual appetite. Out of necessity, he had come up with a plethora of euphemisms for their shared time alone. "I can help you get changed?"

Phryne accepted the generous offer, making her own way up the stairs with one hand under her grown stomach as the natural instinct it was. In the first few weeks of her pregnancy, Phryne was dreadfully worried she might become rather upset with the conditions of pregnancy, but she became surprisingly protective with her unborn child ever since. As soon as she had begun to show, her awareness of that connection only grew to the journey that saw her six months in, climbing up those stairs. She rubbed her large belly as she made her way into her room with Jack just behind her, fantasizing about what she might be able to do while being very careful of her condition.

Since she had become quite large for her petite frame, she found that some sexual activities were rather harder given the positions. However, most everything still remained open for selection.

"Jack ... will you tell me what you'd like, for a change?" she asked, watching him trail into the room after her only to shut and lock the door.

"I'd like to wait until Miss Williams and her kids have vacated the property before having you completely," he said quietly. "But I'm more than happy to give you what you need before then."

When Jack turned and twisted, looking for something, Phryne inquired: "What on earth are you looking for?"

"That pillow. That large pillow you had here just yesterday."

Phryne knew the pillow. It had helped her sleep for the past few days, since Jack had bought it for her. She had propped it underneath her as she laid back most times, as any other way caused discomfort. She sat on the edge of her bed with a sigh and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm sorry - I don't recall where I last saw it."

"Well then we'll just use mine," he promised, climbing onto the bed with an ease that had Phryne jealous and excited all at once. Jack certainly didn't have a large swollen stomach that restricted his movements, but he did everything he could to ease the physical burden from her shoulders, so it was easy to forgive his freedoms.

Phryne started undressing while Jack re-arranged the comforters and pillows on the bed. She started thinking about some of the more imaginative sex she and Jack had shared in their earlier romantic days, and wondered what sex might be like after her body had more or less reverted to the way it was. Then again, it would never be quite the same ...

"I see you're in need of these," Jack moaned into her ear, kneeling on the bed behind her to massage her shoulders. Silent moments where Phryne fussed with something were most often about uncertainty she felt about her body, and Jack found it best to soothe her concerns right away, with a tender touch. "The infamous hands."

Phryne chuckled then, remembering back to when she had muttered that exact phrase the second time they slept together. She had been so enthused to feel them all over her body, she had muttered the phrase aloud. Even then - with those hands having learned her body - she flushed with embarrassment at the memory.

"You know ... you've called out some very incriminating things during as well, if I'm not mistaken ..."

Jack's body threatened to blush all over at the hint of embarrassment, but he relaxed himself to the notion and smiled. "I most certainly have ... and who wouldn't?"

He was difficult to tease after all they had been through because he was so unashamedly in love with her, but Phryne knew one thing that never ceased to have him squirming. She leaned her head forward and teasingly moaned: "Especially when I have you in my mouth ..."

The enthusiasm Phryne had for the task always left Jack shaky with desire, and thoroughly embarrassed by the frequency of that exact fantasy playing through his mind. He had required an excuse to leave even at work in the past at the very thought of her sinking to her knees in front of him or draping herself over his legs in bed. His hands faltered as she mentioned it then, too.

"Do you think you might let me satisfy you that way tonight, Inspector?" she asked as innocently as she could, addressing him professionally because she often became very aroused at the thought of him taking her with all of the authority of his constabulary position.

He noticed the slip, lowering himself there behind her to replace his hands with his lips. Kissing perhaps too gently at first, he raked his teeth down over her shoulder, and tugged the dress down over her breasts. Although he couldn't be rough with her in her pregnant state, he found that the hint of such ferocity could often be the compromise they both desired.

It worked.

"Jack ..." she gasped when his hands found her breasts - being careful to avoid her nipples as he kneaded them. Her breasts too had grown since Phryne had become pregnant, and he found that he quite enjoyed massaging them whenever time would allow. "Jack ... Uhhh ..."

"Shh," he smirked over her shoulder, wanting to pull her onto the bed with him but keeping in mind that she needed to be comfortable or they could risk injuring the baby. Dutifully, he helped her lie down against the pillows to kiss his way across her beautiful, pale skin. He had always admired the way she cherished it so carefully as it had always been sensitive to the sun. The care she took with herself only reminded him of the care she would take with their child. THEIR child. He shivered at the thought of a family they were creating, leaning over to kiss her on the lips.

Phryne had slipped her dress down to her hips when there was a knock at the door. Jack groaned into her neck as she sighed into the open air. Interruptions: they knew they would have to get used to it soon enough, but they were trying to make use of their alone time while it remained.

"I can't get it," Jack breathed, pressing his hips only gently onto her thigh to prove his reason. "Do you ... need help with the dress?"

"Who is it?" Phryne called out instead, exhaling seductively into his ear to keep him excited in the hopes that whatever it was would drift along and leave.

"If you've fallen and you can't get up, I'm letting myself in," Mac teased so convincingly she heard something tumble off - the night stand, was it? She chuckled at Phryne's panicked response - knowing Mac very well had a key to her room should she have a birthing emergency.

"No! No, that won't be necessary," Phryne shouted through the door, forcing the most wicked expression to Mac's face. It so pleased her to be able to tease Phryne - a woman who had otherwise done the majority of the teasing in their relationship.

Mac had heard from Dot that Jack was probably 'helping Phryne adjust her pillow' upstairs, and had gone up just to spite the situation. And given that Phryne had just the other day intruded on a particularly enjoyable tumble Mac had with her new partner, it was only fair that she push a little further.

"Is Husband in there, or just you?"

Phryne rolled her eyes as she eased her dress back up while Jack found a book he could place in his lap to sit next to the window - inconspicuously, of course. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Phryne chuckled, making her way across the room to swing open the door with a sassy quirk of her right brow. "You knocked?"

"Ah, Husband," Mac teased as the door opened to the married duo. She spoke with an infectious smile that reached Jack too, despite his embarrassment and frustration. "So nice to see you."

He waved and shook his head while Phryne laughed at the ridiculous nickname. "He has a name, Mac."

"Well, he calls me Doctor MacMillan, so ... what's a legal title I could call him?"

"Inspector Robins-"

"Husband!" Mac finished, pushing her hands in her pockets with a little chortle that had Phryne laughing, too. "I jest, of course. My apologies, Jack."

He sat taller for the acknowledgement, still keeping the thick book rightly in its place to cover any possibly incriminating evidence.

"No, Phryne, I really came here to tell you that one of the deaths I've seen today in the morgue I'm ruling as suspicious, and I wanted to tell you. I know that with everything lately, you've thankfully given to staying out of danger, so I wanted to offer you a quieter investigation, where you might be able to work with me for a few days."

Jack smiled at Mac's thoughtfulness. For all of her teasing, she was the exact friend Phryne needed. In the past few years, Mac had become so close with the entire household that even Dot had come to call her by her given name. Jack only insisted on calling the good doctor by her professional name because it irked her, so perhaps the two of them teased quite equally after all. Still, Jack felt the aggravation from his current stiff situation, and kept his mind smartly off the pregnant woman leaning along the door frame while the good doctor was around.

When Phryne hopped with joy and gave a large hug to her friend, Mac and Jack both smiled at one another. They had both always only wanted to see Phryne happy. Jack mouthed 'Thank you' and Mac's smile widened in recognition. They each appreciated when the other managed to soothe Phryne's pregnant frustrations.

"Great," Mac continued when Phryne finally drew back. "So do you want me to pick you up tomorrow then? Early, maybe?"

"Jack?" Phryne teased over her shoulder, fanning herself nonsensically with her hand. "Are you quite alright with someone 'picking me up'? Early, even? The very thought!"

Her acts of innocence or feigned offence always had Jack laughing. Phryne could certainly act the part, though. Having fully forgotten his earlier thoughts, Jack tossed the book aside and waltzed right up to both women at the tease - two very strong, independent women he would have found intimidating before his friendship had evolved with Phryne. He found himself rather bold, thinking of his confidence among them.

"I'm quite sure her intentions are honourable, Dear," he jested in return, resting his hand just gently at Phryne's back. "Not to worry."

"Goodness gracious - thank the heavens," Mac delivered with the same showmanship as her friend, gripping Phryne's shoulders. "A man has given us the authority to speak! Praise the Lord!"

Phryne approved with a hollering laugh as the two friends made their way downstairs together. Jack followed after them with a comical shake of his head - closing the door on his way out. The children knew to stay out of the master bedroom, but the closed door served as a visual reminder.

On cue, two of the children bolted up the stairs past Jack, bumping into him with giggling apologies as they hurried down to the guest room which had belonged to Dot long ago. Since Dot had her first child, Phryne had lovingly converted the room into a play room. As Dot's babies grew, so did the maturity of their toys. Phryne often had the children over, referred to always as Aunt Phryne. Jack - by association - became Uncle Jack once they married. It was only after the children had come to know him that they enjoyed the name with as much gusto as they did their doting aunt.

"Sorry, Uncle Jack!" they laughed over their shoulders - Thomas flailing his arms in the air while his taller but younger sister, Mary, chased after him. Jack watched the scene with an endearing glance, wondering what his child might become one day. He smiled, sighed, and headed down the stairs to the booming volume of the company they kept on the beautiful September day.

The one-year-old had chosen that exact moment to crawl his way to the banister of the stairs just as Jack was padding down the steps. He hurried down to stop a possibly dangerous exploration, tucking his large hands under the small child's arms and lifting the infant with a smile he only ever shared with children - a fatherly glow on his face.

"There you are, you little rascal!" Dot hissed from worry, smacking her hand to her forehead as she slid toward the detective. "Terribly sorry, Inspector. He just ran off on me again."

"Now how is it that I'm still Inspector and Mac is Mac?" he asked with a coy little grin that Dot understood. He was just teasing her, but she answered all the same.

"Mac's blackmailed me, I'm afraid," she chuckled. "But I'm willing not to press any charges on the matter."

Jack furrowed his brow with a puzzling smirk expressing his confusion: "Blackmailed, Miss Williams? For what, exactly, might I ask?"

"No, you may not," she said just as teasingly in return while crossing her arms. "And if I told you, Inspector, I'd only be inviting you to blackmail me, too."

With that, Dorothy was off with a playful attitude and a confidence so similar to his wife's that Jack could hardly blame the young mother. After all, Dot had been influenced by the most mischievous and intelligent woman Jack had ever known.

Jack smiled when he heard Dot chastising her other children for some misdeed or another, keeping baby Charles rightfully scooped in his right arm as he wandered into the kitchen.

There Jack found Mr. Butler, chuckling at the busy household he found oddly pleasing. "Mr. Butler. Back from the market so soon?"

"Quick trip, Mr. Robinson, indeed," he answered with a brimming smile partially for Jack's positive demeanor, and partially for the excited baby in the detective's arms. "I see Little Charles has found himself some company."

Jack offered the baby to Mr. Butler - as both men had a stunningly soft side for babies - but Mr. Butler refused, gesturing to the bags. "I'm afraid I've got to put all of this in some place safe, where Mary and Thomas can't send it tumbling to the ground."

Since Phryne had grown into her pregnancy, Jack found himself more and more eager to hold the baby in his arms. However, he was content to dote his fatherly love on a Dot's young infant. His nephew, as it was.

While Mr. Butler busied himself with the groceries and hustled off to the laundry, Jack began measuring one cup of flour at a time into a large white bowl. He was focused on his measuring, at least, until a little hand wandered into the bowl.

"Ah, no, that's not for you," Jack chuckled, setting down the measurement cup to dissuade the baby's curious, chubby fingers. "It certainly won't taste any good," he continued, laughing when the baby became confused at the properties of flour - the powder sifting through the tiny fingers.

It was that exact sight Phryne witnessed when she stepped in to explain to Mr. Butler that Mac would be staying for dinner, but Dot and the children would not. However, seeing Jack so content to hold the child made the announcement all the more difficult. For long, tender moments, Phryne stood and took in the sight of her Jack and the little baby amusing one another with flour.

Jack hadn't even tried to keep his vest from the white, powdery substance. He seemed more concerned with the baby's consumption of the fun new toy. Big Jack fingers brushed the flour off of Charles's, glancing up when he felt eyes on the laughable scene.

"Miss Fisher," he smiled while the baby turned to her, too.

"Should I tell Dot you're keeping him?" she teased lovingly, sauntering closer to coo over the little bundle. "You wouldn't mind, would you?" she asked, as she would ask any child. Neither she nor Jack were fond of talking to the baby as if he were incapable of full, real words. Still, her tone held a certain softness to it that lightened Jack's smile. He had always wondered what Phryne might be like with a child of her own, and in a handful of months, he would know. He felt so elated with the very idea, wanting to kiss her as she played with the little boy in his arms. "Or maybe I can keep you," she teased, watching a joy bounce into the baby's wide eyes. "Yes, and I can find you a little friend soon enough, can't I?"

"I think with a three-year-old and a four-year-old at home, this little guy has all the friends he can take," Jack laughed, passing Charles off to Phryne when he realized dinner was pressing near, and the buns would take time to rise. He knew better than to ask if she could take the weight in her arms.

"Use that apron I like," Phryne said over her shoulder as she wandered away with the babe-in-arms. When she paused at the doorway and winked, he couldn't help the grin from pressing to his lips.

Phryne had the same insinuation to her voice after Dot and the kids had left. Mac, Mr. Butler, Jack and herself were seated around the dining room table with a delicious meal of roasted chicken and potatoes. They had just started dipping into the dishes when Phryne shot a look across the table to Jack.

He delivered a look of his own to answer her lust: later.

He had been wise to opt for a seat across from her, but she was still tempted. She wondered if she could sneak her foot up his leg without anyone else noticing. In the middle stages of her pregnancy, she didn't seem to care much about repercussions when it came to her appetite for Jack. However, with such polite and loving company, she couldn't very admit her hormonal lust over dinner, so she kept her feet tucked under her chair.

It was a delightful dinner and evening with Mac and Mr. Butler reluctantly joining the three for the nightcap. He made certain to fill their drinks by responsibility in his role, but also spoke tenderly with the others in a manner that showed he felt more like family than anything else. Phryne enjoyed Mr. Butler's company when it was lent to her, mostly because she felt he was more of a fatherly presence than her own father had ever been. She wondered how Mr. Butler would get along with her child, and then chuckled to herself when she realized her train of thought.

"Well," Mac sighed, downing the rest of her glass of water to get to her feet. "I'm afraid I've got to get back home. I've got an early shift tomorrow."

"And what about ... Helen, is it?" Phryne asked, pulling herself to her feet to hug her dear friend with a delighted smile. "You really ought to bring her around. I hear it's becoming serious."

"Don't get your hopes up just yet," Mac laughed after waving to the men still seated after so many of Phryne's insistences that they not dote on her so terribly just because she was a little rounder than usual. She walked Mac to the door, and kissed her cheek.

"Dear Mac," she enthused gently. "You are a catch, my friend. Hopefully this woman sees that, because if she doesn't, you feel free to warn her that a very violent, angry pregnant woman is close on her heels."

Mac laughed again, opened the door and pulled on her coat. "Yeah ... that'll do the trick. Goodnight!"

From the parlour, Jack and Mr. Butler heard the exchange, and were laughing amongst themselves. However, after watching Mac leave, Phryne found herself walking into a rare philosophical conversation between the two men.

"We can't really know someone who doesn't want to be known," Mr. Butler was saying just as she entered, adding: "Not really, at least."

It was later in bed that Phryne asked what the conversation had been about. Jack had just changed into pyjamas to slip in next to Phryne when she asked, dressed in her large night shirt built for a growing mother's belly.

Jack responded easily that he asked how a parent knew their adolescent child as he or she grew, and Phryne cuddled against him at the concern.

"Oh, Jack. Leave it to you to worry yourself about a matter that won't come up for ten years still."

The quick breath that blew over her neck had Phryne smiling; he was laughing in his own, gentle way. She took his hand, and slowly pushed it to her breast, pressing with the desire she felt down between her legs. Only a minute later, she was bringing the same hand over her stomach to settle between her hips. With one leg draped back over Jack and hands clenching the comforter, Phryne enjoyed in the touch that she had whenever she wanted it.

Jack touched her as he always did - with a gentle but firm disposition. He was able to have her trembling in minutes when he whispered naughty somethings into her ear or pressed up against her. The very reminder of his attraction and desire for her could cause an eruption of uncontrollable lust.

Her fantasies involved pleasing Jack so often that it confused him. He supposed that before Phryne, he hadn't put much thought into women's fantasies. Even so, he imagined Phryne was different than most women. In that many of her fantasies occurred in partially-public locations, he considered that Phryne was quite unique indeed.

"Jack ... Jackie ... yes!" she gasped under her breath, her hips moving with his practiced precision as she inched closer to release.

He moaned at the nickname that had slipped out of her lips the first time they made love - a nickname he urged her to use whenever it pleased her. It was a nickname, as it turned out, that slipped off her lips quite subconsciously. No matter her insistences that she could keep from saying it, he still seemed able to draw it from her lips on occasion.

"Yes ... let me take you on my desk ..." he moaned into her hair, making certain to brush his lips along the ridge of her ear.

Phryne quivered at the mention of a fantasy she had shared with him long ago, her shoulders caving at the electricity between them. There was only so much a woman could take, and the imagery of his words had her teetering extravagantly on edge. The touch of his lips had her quickly losing control.

"Jack! ... Jack, I'm so close, Love ..." she panted helplessly, wanting to close her legs. Wanting to spread them wider.

"Let go," Jack persuaded hotly in her ear, rubbing a little faster as his own stiffness grew at the very sight of her reacting to his touch. "Give in ... let go ..."

His breath in her ear was all it took, and she was gone - letting go of her control to the man with his arms wrapped around her. She shivered and crumbled there beside Jack, curled to his chest with a pillow still between them when tears fell over the bridge of her nose. She hated becoming so emotional so often after sex for the past few months, but it was something she had come to expect. She had also learned - through much assurance from her loving husband - that it was not shameful to have such intense reactions. He was rather touched by her moments of weakness in his arms.

"Jack," she started when she trusted her voice again. "Can I-"

"You can tomorrow morning," he whispered, knowing exactly what she was looking to offer. After all, she pleased him more than he pleased her most days, and he would always rather wait than to have his crying, pregnant wife sate his desire. He never wanted to feel as though he were taking advantage of her considerations of him, and he knew he was capable of holding off when necessary. "For tonight ... just sleep."

It felt so right to be cradling Phryne in his arms that Jack easily drifted off next to her. He had been renovating the kitchen of his old house in order to sell it in good condition, but he still spent most nights with Phryne in her bed, holding her. In THEIR bed. More often he was able to see the house as theirs, and Mr. Butler as a friend more than staff. More often, Jack could imagine the household with one more inhabitant - a small, lively baby. He fell asleep to the idea of a child to love and hold and parent with the world's most incredible woman.

The house was a well-oiled machine that became admittedly noisy with the frequent guests and the Collins crew barrelling down the halls more days than not, but whenever they thought on the rhythm of their lives, Jack and Phryne wouldn't have had it any other way.


	2. Eating for Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phryne and Jack, another month ahead into the pregnancy.

It had almost been eight months since Phryne had become pregnant, and Jack was beginning to worry. Phryne had agreed to take things easy with her fearless curiosity, but she still appeared on-site at crime scenes if the mystery held no known threats to her safety. She often still reached for her favorite bowl on the high shelf for her soup lunches, and she insisted on making her own way about town when she wanted a walk or a breath of fresh air. In so many ways, Jack was glad for Phryne's independent nature, but in other ways, he worried what might happen to Phryne if she toppled over with her unusual belly weight or went into early labour on her own.

The other months had been easier, but as the baby grew, Phryne grew, and the changes were difficult to ignore. Jack imagined the baby was only more susceptible to being bumped or hurt the more developed it was.

"If you're going to gripe about this, can you at least help me?"

Jack was standing in the doorway of the parlour, staring in shock at his very pregnant wife who was attempting to move a couch. His eyes went wide and his arms felt suddenly tense with anger and frustration. What was she doing? Why wouldn't she have asked for help earlier - before he saw her crouching to pull the heavy thing across the room? Jack sighed in aggravation when Phryne stood to stare back at him in question.

"Jack ...? What're you doing? You have that look on your face."

His eyes cut across the room, and suddenly Phryne had a very different sort of feeling: desire. Angry Jack often excited her. However, Angry Jack was not so often thrilled with the idea of pleasure, as he didn't enjoy romance quite so much when he was just trying to keep himself from yelling.

"Jack?" she tried again, leaning with her hands on the side of the couch with her pink maternity sun dress draping over her round stomach to emphasize her bump. Phryne dropped her chin to feel the white lace at her collarbone, and sighed when she tried to imagine how he must have felt. "I'm sorry ... I-"

"Phryne," he interrupted uncharacteristically although his voice had taken on a tenderness that outlined his genuine care about the issue. "You can't keep doing this."

"I'm not trying to upset you," she sighed again, lifting her chin to give him a pointed stare. "I'm just ... trying to have some semblance back of myself, Jack ... To be able to move the couch back where I want it. And it's not going to break me to do it! It's ... very hard when you're standing there, telling me all the things I shouldn't do."

Jack crossed the room while Phryne took in the rolled up shirtsleeves he wore - a button-up with possibly no singlet beneath it. Phryne caught his eye as he took her hand in both of his. He was being very serious so she ignored her distractions and kept her focus on his eyes.

"I think we just need to come up with a compromise when you need to feel as though everything's not changing," Jack suggested, leaning to sit on the armrest of the sofa with a pleading look up into her eyes. "Like asking me for help, maybe. Or anyone else around here who would be more than willing to help ... Couldn't I move the sofa for you and you could do something else?"

Faced with that desperate plea, Phryne rolled her eyes for playful effect, and smiled because they both knew she was helpless to resist. "Fine ... but this means you're at my beck and call until Aunt P gallivants herself in and then back out of that door. There is a lot to do - I heard Mr. Butler's list of activities, and I will be damned if I let that poor man do it all. So I'm just moving a few things around after those relaxing stretches I did. And don't worry - Mr. Butler moved everything the first time around!"

"Well Dot and Hugh are busy with the children today, but I could have Mac come over and help us? ... Maybe Bert and Cec would apply themselves if you need the help."

Phryne was beginning to appreciate the image Jack would make doing all the chores she had in mind. He could be quite handy around the house any of the times she had asked for his assistance, and she could certainly imagine those sleeves rolled a little higher ...

"Phryne?" he was asking, giving her hand a squeeze until she chuckled at her own very debilitating desire. When Jack showed his gentle side at the same time as his more rigid, authoritative role, she found that the mix made her irreversibly hungry for a particular brand of passion.

"Yes ... I just ... was wondering if I might get YOUR help. I mean, Mac doesn't want to chance being caught here with Aunt P, and I'm sure Bert and Cec don't want anything to do with chores, so that leaves just me and you," she answered as plainly as possible. She was certain she had spoken without a hint of lust until Jack knitted his brows together and replied.

"Are you ... excited, Miss Fisher?"

"Don't call me that, Jack," she smirked, trying to dismiss the notion as she paced to the other end of the room. Jack's understanding had her feeling oddly shy about how badly she wanted him.

Jack easily followed her across the room, watching her busy herself swatting at the drapes. He crossed his arms and smiled at the image Phryne made, attempting to ignore her own sexual desires. She certainly WASN'T acting like herself.

In a naturally professional tone of voice, Jack pursued with a knowing grin: "Miss Fisher ... do I need to interrogate you to figure out what you're thinking right now?"

Phryne let out a strangled sigh, taking in a half breath only to feel a lump forming in her throat. Interrogation? What sort of game was he playing at? Phryne pulled the drapes closed and made to move past her very persuasive husband. The hand that reached out to close around her arm had Phryne's heart beating out of her chest; she snapped her eyes to Jack over her shoulder, wanting him obviously.

"I think you and I need to have a little talk," Jack smiled, pulling Phryne closer by her dress only to have her follow his lead. A pliable Phryne was a rare sight indeed, and he knew better than to waste the mood. "Come upstairs with me ...?"

It was almost a question, but it sounded as if he were telling her what to do. Phryne felt a heat flush in her cheeks, flooded with joy at the hands that slid down her arms to massage her wrists. Phryne had always liked that.

"Jack ...?"

"Company will be here in an hour," Jack started, delving out facts as if they were on a case because he wanted to make it quick: "I can ask Mr. Butler to have Bert and Cec move some things around, bring you upstairs for some proper attention, and be downstairs again in time for guests to arrive."

"That all sounds very good," Phryne moaned, stepping as closely as she could to Jack without touching her belly to his flat abdomen. "But I don't think you'd appreciate Bert and Cec giving me the sort of attention I need ..."

By the glint in her eyes, he knew she had misconstrued the wording of his list, and his eyes grew a little darker at her tease. Keeping both of her wrists in his hands, he tugged her so they did touch, and then leaned in toward her lips: "Am I going to have to spank you, Dear?"

Phryne's mouth went dry at the very idea of such a thing - was Jack really open to that? He had never spoken so hotly about it before. They kidded with one another about a great many things, but Phryne realized just then how badly she wanted him to do it. She knew that was an activity that would have to wait for until he felt he could be rougher with her again, but she imagined it all the same: Jack bending her over their bed, winding back and spanking her with his large hands. She purred shamelessly as she looked up at him then, from under her lashes.

The way Phryne's eyes lit up told Jack that his tease wasn't only a playful jest - it was one of her coveted secret fantasies. He kept the idea in mind for another, less pregnant sexual adventure. Knowing Phryne's many proclivities, he knew he could find some other ideas in order to keep her sated.

"I'll get myself upstairs and I'll meet you in bed," Phryne whispered back to gather a nod of Jack's head as they both scurried about their plans.

Phryne's heart was racing with excitement even when she saw that she had Jack wrapped around her finger upstairs. She lighted with desire when he laid back with a simple suggestion, and she climbed up, on top of him with both hands pressed to his bare chest. He had so thoughtfully undressed for her - smiling at the sultry giggle she sent his way at the shirt tossed dramatically across the room. He had undressed her, too - lifting the dress off to discard it along with his shirt. He had even appreciated her naked pregnant form with relatively little stalling to kiss and caress all of her erogenous zones.

He had made it all so easy, and once he laid peacefully there for her to decide the course of action, Phryne felt herself flush with renewed desire. She always did enjoy taking control.

"We can't be too long," Phryne smiled, seeing the delight in her lover's eyes as she ground herself down against him, moving her hand down between them.

Resting his hands innocently at her knees, Jack exhaled and closed his eyes when Phryne finally guided him inside of her. She could always take control in the most intoxicating ways, and the longer they were together, the more apt she became at commanding his body and his mind. He shivered, thinking what she might be capable of doing to him a few more years into their relationship.

"I'm not hurting you, I hope," Phryne smirked, already knowing the reaction for what it was. She had settled happily onto him, replacing both hands to his chest to sink down as comfortably as she could - balanced and supported.

"No ..." he moaned, moving his hands up her legs while his hips moved despite his intention to let her decide on the pace. "It's good ... it's so good ..."

"I want it faster, Jack ... please ..." Phryne whined in the seductive tone of voice that always jolted Jack into action. It was a desperate plea that he could never ignore.

Taking her hands in his, Jack pulled her so that she leaned her weight mostly onto his hands. He kept his elbows rested against the mattress, and supported her further while his feet pressed flat against the bed. Ready to give her what she needed, he lifted his hips - thrusting with enough force to notify her the control had changed hands. He was taking the lead.

Fighting it for the sake of pestering him, Phryne sat back on top of him, rotating her hips the way he liked.

Jack chuckled - his hands smoothing up her thighs again. He knew that since she had been so physically limited, she had been even more mischievous in their bed, and he had to admit he enjoyed it. She never let anything stop her, and he so admired that about her. He smiled up at her then, each of them battling to create the rhythm.

"Quit giving me grief," Jack smirked, brushing his hands up to her naked hips to squeeze them.

"Never," she smiled back, moaning at his attention to her body.

Trying to still her in that playful sense, he chuckled at her squirming hips. "Keep still ..."

But he didn't really want that.

"Not a chance, Inspector ..." she purred, reaching behind her to touch and tease him between his parted legs.

"Are you ... trying to rush me ... Miss Fisher?"

Phryne laughed, but didn't slow her actions, licking her lips when he lovingly moved his hands down over her lovely derrière.

"Rush this? ... Not a chance," she grinned, eyeing him like she had already won whatever ridiculous game she had started. Was she trying to race to the finish? Why on earth- ... but Jack didn't have time for those sorts of questions. Her hand was already toying with him, and he needed to think of something - fast. His mind immediately flipped back to the comment she had made just earlier.

It almost happened without him meaning to do it, but the look he saw shining back in her eyes had them both aroused.

"Did you ... just spank me?" Phryne asked darkly, slowing her hips to focus on those confident lips. That perfect smile.

Jack tensed his body a little when she leaned onto his chest again, staring down at him. He loved the way her smaller hands pushed against him for support, giving in at the very gentle move he'd made.

"I ... think it was more of a tap at this angle," he excused with only the hint of a smirk. He was thrusting again with a gentle rhythm while she leaned down, rubbing against him with every movement. She closed her eyes and allowed the fantasy to continue.

"Jack ..." she was lifting off of him, increasing their pace subconsciously. It wouldn't take much persuasion, they both knew. Any surprises Jack delivered to her in their bed had the same effect. "Hold onto me ..."

With Phryne leaning heavily forward, his only option while keeping her from falling onto him was to slow down and grab her wrists. At the action, Phryne whimpered a sound so erotic, Jack whimpered in return. It was almost too much, the sight of her coming undone.

"I want you, Jack Robinson ... once this baby is out ... I want you to make good on your promises ... all these little promises you've given me along the way ..."

Jack knew exactly what she meant. Not being able to enjoy the act as physically as they had before made them both more adventurous during the pregnancy. And she was telling him that she wouldn't forget - she wanted it all: the positions, the rougher play, the spanking.

Phryne shook as she thought back to the way Jack had pinned her to the wall just a few months ago - his hands rough quite accidentally. He had been surprising her more and more in the past few months.

There on top of Jack, Phryne rode him faster - panting with the curled tips of her hair rocking back-and-forth in rhythm with their bodies. She looked down into his eyes, and saw the care and respect beaming mercilessly up at her. He was the kind of loving man she had never thought existed, and he was pleasing her with a warmth she had never found in all of her tumbles with more experienced lovers. He was capable when taught, surprising when tempted, and most especially devoted to her pleasure. Phryne dipped her head down as the pressure built inside of her - tingles warning of the climax to come.

"Jack! ..."

He knew by the way his name fell off her lips that she was close. He saw her fists tighten and her mouth open to the sensations that rocked her from head-to-toe.

It was only after she caught her breath again that she saw he had yet to enjoy the same thrill. Exhausted but still entirely enthralled, Phryne sat up on top of him, bringing his hands up to her breasts - larger in her late stage of pregnancy.

It wasn't long after Jack had his hands freely roaming over her that he came inside of her - eyes shut to the intensity of his orgasm. And it wasn't long after that they found themselves tangled up in the sheets, panting and laughing at the need that still managed to drive them to chaotic lust.

"Well ..." she panted, moaning delightedly as she looked to her beau. "That ... was ... very satisfying."

"Good ... because I don't think I'd have the energy for a second round," he breathed back, closing his eyes to the peace between them. "You know ... I can't believe I was ever worried about this."

Phryne closed her eyes to the memory too, when Jack had been worried to have sex when Phryne first announced her pregnancy. His confusion led to a very awkward conversation with Doctor MacMillan that assured him, but he had taken things very easy for the first month or two - only ever enjoying Phryne's body when she made the bold suggestion for sex. Ever since, Jack had become more comfortable with the sound science of it all, even initiating sex when he allowed himself to be vocal about his appreciation. Reflecting back on it all as he laid next to Phryne in their bed, he smiled.

Phryne took Jack's hand and brought it around her stomach, each of them settling to the feel of cool sheets against their sweating, heated skin. The gentle hand that brushed over her stomach showed Jack's tenderness, even in more heated moments. It reminded Phryne that he never judged her, no matter what she confessed to him in the more desperate moments of passion.

"I'm ... sorry if I pushed you into that," Phryne said quietly, tracing her fingers on top of his. She fell quiet as she went on to insinuate that he didn't need to appease her every fantasy if he wasn't comfortable trying. It was a concern that melted away when Jack smiled and kissed her - telling her that he would be upfront if he didn't feel comfortable trying something. His humor returned when he insisted he should have spanked her the very first day he'd met her.

It only took a second for Phryne's laugh to bellow out into the room..

"You wouldn't have dared," Phryne giggled, leaned on her side with Jack pressing himself behind her just to trace his nose over her shoulder. His smile rubbed against her, words unnecessary.

Rustling from downstairs distracted them both from a kiss Jack was reaching toward, and they both stopped short at the voice they recognized: Aunt Prudence.

"Bloody Hell!" Phryne hissed, swinging her legs off the bed and hoisting herself up off the bed. "She's early!"

Jack laughed, and followed in-toe while they both madly rushed to dress into something proper for the dinner with her dear aunt. Thankfully, Phryne had picked her outfit out in advance, and followed down the stairs only a few minutes after Jack to make their tardy appearance in their own parlour somewhat less damning.

By the look on her aunt's face, Phryne could see it hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped, but Aunt Prudence didn't make a fuss. She had cut Phryne slack ever since learning of her pregnancy, and instead of nagging her about her social faux pas, Aunt Prudence smiled at her belly thoughtfully once Phryne had sashayed to the couch.

"You're due so soon, Phryne - are you keeping your feet up?"

Realizing how that had sounded, Aunt Prudence - along with Jack, Phryne, and Mr. Butler - all blanched at the mistakenly insinuating comment. Phryne changed the topic from Jack with a flickering smile and a clasp of her hands.

"I have the most wonderful butler, and for that I thank my lucky stars!"

Mr. Butler nodded dutifully, and made certain no one was wanting any beverages before seeing to the dinner arrangements.

"Yes, well," Aunt Prudence started, making one of her faces at the situation: "I'll be certain not to be early again."

Phryne managed not to laugh just then, but it overcame her later during dinner when Aunt Prudence had noted the way she was looking at Jack.

Mr. Butler had perhaps not so wisely gestured for Phryne to sit next to Jack - or perhaps he had done so purposefully for the sheer entertainment value.

"What could you possibly be looking at now?" Prudence hissed impatiently.

Phryne's eyes had accidentally raked over her husband for the third time that meal, thinking of what they had just done together upstairs. However, she snapped her eyes back to her aunt at the outrage, and delivered a slender laugh along with a plain, yet informative look.

Oh no, thought Jack. She was going to be honest.

"Well, I must say that lately I haven't the power to hold back what I might hold back most usually, Aunt P ... and Jack is a very ... beautiful man."

Jack blushed ten shades of red, setting down his cutlery so as not to drop anything.

"So I'm sorry, but you DID ask," Phryne finished, scooping another portion of potatoes into her mouth with an unapologetic smile.

"Well I might remind you not to embarrass the man at the table!" she posited, rolling her eyes as she aggressively cut up what remained of her meal.

The wording had Phryne thinking of something else she might do with Jack at the table, but in a way, she knew that her aunt was right - she shouldn't torment him for Jack's sake. She only wished it were so simple as to deny her feelings.

Hurt that her attention might embarrass Jack so thoroughly, Phryne pushed down all desire she had, and began a conversation on the latest fundraiser.

While she was not the sort of woman to hold onto something only to turn it on Jack later in the evening, Jack could see she was upset. In the way she spoke - devoid of the usually joyful bounce of her words - it was clear that she was not feeling herself. Seeing the change, Jack brought his hand to her thigh, just to comfort her. And with the touch, Phryne smiled down at her plate.

It was soothing until Jack had to pull himself from the table to answer a call from the station. He granted the permission first from the women at the table - thinking Mr. Butler might have to take a message - but Aunt Prudence was surprisingly understanding.

It was a short call, and one which had Jack returning to the dining room to see Phryne stealing bites of his food off his plate. He stopped in the doorway with a loving grin plastered on his face, and both hands resting comfortably at his hips. Phryne's playful guilt upon seeing him catch her only encouraged her to steal more food from his plate while Aunt Prudence turned to his voice.

"That was the station ... I'm afraid I'm needed."

"You most certainly are," Phryne smirked, trying only to insinuate that she needed him as emotional support when it came out quite accidentally as a sensual promise of lust.

Aunt Prudence frowned at her, and then turned back to Jack. "A murder? In the city? ... Goodness, I hope it's no one at the fundraiser ... can you even imagine?!"

"I hope it doesn't keep you away long," Phryne smiled, doing a much better job of keeping her tone to one of honest innocent. "You wouldn't want your food to cool too terribly."

"Just finish it," Jack chuckled, leaning against the doorway to admire his glowing, pregnant wife. "I'll be back later. I'll cook something up then."

He took off then with his coat and hat, leaving Phryne to wonder how she might steal snacks from him later, when no one was around.

"Phryne!" Aunt Prudence whispered under her breath when Jack had finally gone. She glanced up to be sure that no one else was within earshot. "Phryne - you can't be harassing that man when company comes to visit! Good heavens - how many people have you offended?! Luckily for you, my love is not as easily perturbed as my patience."

Phryne moved Jack's plate beside hers, and tried not to act quite so careless as she felt lately in regards to others' level of comfort. She blinked up at her aunt as her fork mixed Jack's portions with hers. "I'm sorry, Aunt P ... it was never my intention to offend ... Maybe you'll stay for dessert, and all will be forgiven?"

"Just ... be more careful around company," Prudence muttered unhappily, plastering a smile on her face for the poor butler who had to tolerate her niece's come-what-may attitude.

"Yes, Aunt P."

"And speaking of company, must you insist on forfeiting his family name?" Aunt Prudence pressed, just as Mr. Butler returned back into the kitchen. "I mean, really, Phryne? What will people think?"

Phryne hungrily finished off her plate as Mr. Butler returned for it, earning a fatherly smile of approval at her growing hunger. He tucked his fingers under the plate only to see her digging into Jack's dish - grinning his way to the kitchen.

"I remain Miss Fisher, because I don't see why that has to change," Phryne answered, continuing with her aunt's concerned conversation. "I happen to like my name, thank you very much. Jack doesn't change his title or name for marriage - why should I?"

Aunt Prudence dropped her head in her hand, and as Mr. Butler pivoted to refill their glasses, he stopped still in the doorway to the kitchen, sending a comforting smile to the hungry woman who stopped for nothing to eat. Phryne smiled back at him while she chewed, as if to say that she didn't mind her aunt's disapproval in the least. With that, Mr. Butler disappeared into the kitchen to continue with the dishes, remembering how Phryne had pulled his hand to her belly to feel the baby kick just earlier that morning. He started on the chore affectionately, wondering what kind of baby to expect from the audacious and lovely Miss Fisher: a baby made up of equal parts Inspector Robinson. The very thought was entertaining.

Once he was finished with the dishes, he noticed that Phryne and her aunt were shifting from the dining room most likely into the parlour. What surprised him when he stepped into the hall was seeing Aunt Prudence tying on her hat and grabbing her coat.

"Oh, there you are, Mr. Butler," Aunt Prudence started, as if he had been somehow absent while attending to his work. "She needs to sleep - she's almost fallen into her plate, and I'm seeing myself out."

"I'm not falling asleep," Phryne insisted, standing beside her aunt at the door, trying to help her with her coat to no avail. Mr. Butler stepped in and helped the fussing older woman in her stead. "Come on, Aunt P ... it's fine. Why don't you join me in the parlour for a while? I haven't quite been myself, I'm sorry."

"Well it's just thankful I don't scare as easily as some," Aunt Prudence teased very lightly, allowing one small smile slip as she carefully hugged her niece - protruding tummy and all. "You get some rest - and Mr. Butler? See to it that she's dragged to bed, if need be! A pregnant mother needs her rest."

"Will do, Mrs. Stanley," he assured with a pleasant tone that reminded Prudence of how she thought Father Christmas should speak to children, if he so existed.

With one last smile, Aunt Prudence was gone, leaving Phryne to waddle down the hall to the phone to pull it up to her ear. She yawned and dialled.

Mr. Butler watched her for a moment, puzzled by her energy - even when hopelessly tired. He chuckled when she addressed the inspector over the phone, and Mr. Butler found his way toward the kitchen, overhearing as he walked.

"No, just let me come ..." Phryne yawned again, cursing under her breath at something Jack undoubtedly said against her fatigue. "Yes, I do ... of course I do. But ... well, is it unsafe? ... Do you promise to tell me when you return? ... And when will that be?"

Mr. Butler went to retrieve Jack's empty dish from the table with a loving roll of his eyes at the many ways Miss Fisher was able to torture the poor Mr. Robinson. Since becoming pregnant, Mr. Butler noticed that there was not much Jack could deny her, but a man needed rest all the same. And Phryne's tone of voice was certainly not the tone of a woman intending to sleep the night through.

"Jackie ..." she whispered when she thought no one could hear, and Mr. Butler made certain to bring the plate to the sink where he would not be overhearing something he shouldn't. The last thing he wanted was to listen in after Phryne used a pet name for Jack - only danger seemed to follow those two specific syllables. However, before long, he heard louder: "Yes ... No, I know ... Okay, fine ... Alright alright, but only because I WANT to."

Mr. Butler couldn't help but feel more respect for Jack at the way he talked his wife out of danger as her pregnancy drew on. Jack was never cold or authoritative about it, but tender and caring toward the mother-to-be. Tobias found himself a little gentler as well as Phryne's stomach grew - not that he'd ever been otherwise, but he noticed the change all the same.

It was something he noted especially as he went only ten minutes later to the parlour to find Phryne asleep in a semi-seated position on the couch. Her head was lolled to the left, and her palms turned up in defeat. She'd been consumed by fatigue, despite her greater effort to keep herself awake for Jack.

Much gentler than he had done for her in years past, Mr. Butler reached down to her hand and woke her with a little squeeze. He hated to wake her, but if she slept in strange positions, she was often very sore the next day, and he wanted her to find a proper rest.

"I'd like to help you upstairs, Miss," he said with a smile, knowing better than to ask when he really would rather help anyway.

"Mmm ..." Phryne groaned, fighting with her fatigue as he helped her off the couch - still petite but larger around the front all the same.

Mr. Butler balked with surprise, however, when Phryne stood only to wrap her arms around his waist for a hug from the kind of father she never had as a young girl. She sleepily held onto him, never admitting in full consciousness that she depended on him so thoroughly. Mr. Butler just blinked for a moment, looking down to her closed eyes and the crown of her black hair. Never having had children of his own, he smiled to think that she would have made him very proud.

"Off to bed, Miss," he said quietly, although he wanted her to let go just about as much as she wanted to wield herself up the stairs. When she didn't budge, he softly laid one hand on her back between her shoulders, and the other on her hair. It was one of the only moments he had been sincerely tempted to call her by her given name, but at last, he simply released her and helped her up the stairs.

"I'm not really that tired," Phryne slurred as he helped her to her bed, glad that she wore comfortable clothes so he wouldn't have to worry about her resting in them until Jack arrived back from work.

"Of course not," Mr. Butler smirked, bringing her feet up onto the bed and ensuring a large pillow rested at her back to keep her comfortable. Then with a shake of a blanket from the end of the bed, he draped it over her and watched her eyes close of their accord. He left her in bed with the lights turned out and a gentle, loving whisper on his lips: "Goodnight, Miss Fisher."

Later that night, Jack came home, hung up his coat and hat, and looked around for Phryne. It was within the silence of the house that he understood where she went, although likely unwilling, he chuckled to think.

There upstairs he found Phryne put to sleep like a child, wanting to thank Mr. Butler for his kindness and the care he showed to his wife. He would have to thank him, tomorrow. With softly padded footsteps down the hall, Jack slipped silently into the room without turning on the light, and closed it again behind him.

"Stay in bed, Love," Jack whispered when Phryne stirred at the sound of his undressing. "It's late."

And with that assurance, Phryne did - for once - exactly what she was told.


	3. In a Delicate Condition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phryne is overdue in her pregnancy ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There IS an emotional scene in this chapter, but if you'll bear with me, I think you'll finish the chapter with a smile.

The grass appeared as vicious, relentless waves on that particular Tuesday morning. The constables were even holding needlessly onto their hats with the straps safely tucked under their chins while Jack had opted to leave his hat in the car. It was becoming quite stormy, but he kept all of his focus among the vast acreage on the body at his feet. He was crouched with notepad and pen in-hand when a very familiar set of legs interrupted his train of thought.

He smiled at the choice of her flat-heeled shoes - comfort a main concern for a change.

"How lovely to see you here on this windy day, Miss Fisher," he started, trying not to make a show of his worry. "I trust you've been making it around the barn without injury."

"It's a bit of wind," Phryne rolled her eyes, looking down to her husband when other constables were beginning to stare at her out on the field in her rather large condition. "Really ... and I thought you boys were prepared for everything. But get a pregnant woman out here, and suddenly it's an emergency situation."

"And what if you went into labor here? At this very barn?" Jack asked, finally lifting his chin with a smile plastered on simply to keep up appearances. He had learned during his relationship with Phryne that separating work from their home life was mandatory. "As a concerned co-worker, Miss Fisher, I believe I asked you to remain home until a child makes its way out."

Phryne laughed and crossed her arms over the rounded bump of her stomach. "And I understand that, Inspector, but I've simply come because I've been called to- ooh!" she gasped, smiling with her hand quickly closing around the area of movement in her belly. "Oh, the baby's kicking again, Jack ..."

As much as Jack was able to act the part of detached detective, that giddy tone in her voice always distracted him in every sense of the word. He immediately stood up to his feet, and stepped around to put one hand on her lower back, and the other at her belly. When he felt another kick, he couldn't help but smile. It was a tender moment that came and went, seeing Jack with his hands dropped to his hips and a sigh on his lips. "Someone called you, then?"

"Yes," she started with an air of indignation, coyly smiling to herself with both hands roaming over the silky, large shirt that blew gently in the wind to reveal the gloriously naked lower half of her baby bump. She smoothed over the fabric, doing her best to keep the smile when her ankles started to smart again. Comfortable shoes - as it turned out - didn't keep the swelling from rubbing against the seams. "I told them ... that I was not accepting cases, but as it happens, Inspector, this poor woman's father asked me to come and see her. As a personal favor."

"And now you're leaving?" he asked as gently as possible, knowing better than to demand anything of Phryne. He never wanted to tell her what to do, but when it came to the baby, it was both of their concerns, and she had always understood his protection.

"Yes, MOTHER," she smirked, glancing down for only a moment at the poor young woman who had been strangled and left in a heap of limbs outside the barn. She breathed and stroked her own large stomach again especially tenderly at the thought of someone hurting HER child, and then took her leave.

Jack watched her go only to be distracted by two of his constables helping the lovely woman to her car - to be chauffeured by the wonderful Bert and Cec. The inspector chuckled as he watched his wife become surrounded by men. Men had always been attracted to her at all transitions in her life - by differing reasons, but similar motivations. However, through his relationship with Phryne he knew very well that while she enjoyed to flirt and perhaps tease him about mens' attentions toward her, Phryne quite enjoyed dedicating all of her desires to her husband. Jack shook his head at the young men tripping over themselves to offer help and then rolled his eyes at his wife's flirtatious acceptance of a man on each arm. Ridiculous.

Then Jack turned back toward the crime scene, and closed his eyes. If his child were ever sincerely hurt, he didn't think he would make it through the tragedy. Even unborn, his child meant the world to him. And then he smiled to think what a protective mother Phryne would become. He crouched down again beside the body, frowning at the scene but admiring the trust he had in Phryne - surrounded by pools of men or not.

Phryne sat very carefully in the car, waving off to the young men and then to Jack only to note his focus on the case and sombre expression that gradually turned to a steely concentration with the click of his jaw. Even resting quite a distance away from him, Phryne could see how the crime scene had affected him. She relaxed in her seat with a smile at the thought of teasing him when he'd come home later that evening. Lately sex had become almost uncomfortable as she was in a great amount of pain at times, or even discomfort, but she so enjoyed the massages he gave. He certainly could knead away her aches and pains.

Lately, Phryne had been very uncomfortable with being past her nine-month due date. She felt constantly sore and fatigued with the big swollen belly causing problematic nuisances all over her body. Lately she had not been her effervescent self, and she wanted so badly to return to the lively, bouncing energy she had always somehow managed.

She was still reflecting on her drained persona as of late when the car arrived in St. Kilda, and Mr. Butler threw open the back door to invite her inside. Bless that kind man with his many treats for a frustrated, pregnant woman.

"Any tricks to squeeze this baby out of me?" Phryne teased, assisted to the door with Cec at her side. During most of her pregnancy, she had declined all offers of help, but as she came to the end of her last month, she was finding it more and more difficult to decline the offers in her large and uneasy state. Some moments, she just needed to sit - regardless of whether she had reached her destination or not. Those times, people often panicked on her behalf, but she simply waved them away with a smile and scoff, assuring them she had handled worse.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Fisher. I've got a lovely lunch set up for you."

Mr. Butler offered her an arm, and after Cec made sure she made it into the house alright, he hurried off toward the taxi again to decide with Bert his plans for the afternoon. Once Mr. Butler had Phryne alone, her smile fell and she accepted his kindness with earnest exhaustion. 

"It's been a very hard morning thus far, I must admit," Phryne groaned, pausing at the counter with the helpful arm at her back, helping her to the chair. "Uhh ... a week overdue ... and I'm HUGE."

Mr. Butler always smiled at her reference to her size, because she wasn't exaggerating. For her stature and slight build, the baby bump looked outlandish.

"And have you seen the inspector this morning?"

"Yes," Phryne smiled at last, reaching for a bun with her other hand soothingly on the baby. "And he ushered me off just as quickly as he could."

"You can't really blame him," Mr. Butler said, as if he had to - bracing on the counter to take in the glory that was Miss Phryne Fisher: pregnant and so ravenously hungry. She had been very hungry lately. He had never seen her eat so much and with hardly any discrimination of the meal. He grinned a little tighter at the memory of catching her late the other night, eating directly from the pantry - barefoot and drowsy.

Mr. Butler had just finished eating an early lunch with Phryne when Jack came through the front door. He walked with a poised ease that had Phryne groaning at his ability to walk so independently. Quickly as he neared, however, a sincere smile found her lips, and she prepared for the gentle kiss she received over her shoulder. She smiled down at her plate while Jack sat aside her, sharing about his day. Often since Phryne had drawn back from the action of the job, Jack came around at lunch hour to speak with her about the goings-on and suspicious activities circling the mysteries.

That particular day, Mr. Butler's shared enthusiasm had Phryne smiling anew until she had to use the washroom for the second time that lunch.

"... bladder's gonna be the end of me ..." she muttered just as Jack pivoted up on sturdy legs and helped Phryne to hers.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered back, rolling his eyes. "There. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I can make it to the bathroom," she answered honestly, shuffling down the hall while grumbling all the way.

The two men talked as she found the bathroom, each concerned party explaining things to one another in her absence. When they heard the door re-open again, however, they had to keep their voices down.

"She's had a rough morning," Mr. Butler said quietly to Jack, knowing very well that Jack and Phryne spoke very openly to one another. "She's been quite exhausted."

"Yes, when she was at the crime sc-"

"JACK!"

Both men nearly tumbled over their chairs as they rushed into the hallway to see Phryne standing there, bracing herself against the wall. They looked from her face down to the floor at the gesture of her hand.

"My water ... it broke ..."

Jack's eyes went completely wide, and just before he had the chance to panic, Mr. Butler squeezed his arm and gestured into the parlour.

"There, Inspector. Her bag is in there. I'll help Miss Fisher to the door."

Though Phryne wouldn't confess her worries, Mr. Butler could tell by the tenseness of her arms that she worried very much about what might happen next. He walked with her to the car while Jack hurried to her other side - both men making certain that she was comfortably in the passenger seat before loading in her bag for the hospital. Phryne had insisted on a good book to read should she stay very long, and a beautiful new change of clothes.

Jack thanked Mr. Butler profusely, and asked him to call Phryne's friends and family as he hurried to the hospital at as reasonable pace as his pounding heart would allow. With Phryne contracting at what seemed to be random intervals, he did what he could to get Phryne and the baby to the hospital quickly. Without incident.

Seeing Phryne in so much pain nearly had Jack in genuine shock. He only forced himself to continue on moving through the motions because she needed him. He was there, signing her in at the hospital and waiting for the nurse to help her to her room. He was there when Phryne growled and shouted at the nurse when she was ushered to the room by wheelchair and Jack was denied entrance with her.

Phryne and Jack had spoken about the delivery room - he had always found it a very antiquated ritual for the man to be sitting quietly outside while the woman endured the pain alone. They had spoken a number of times about him standing there if only to assure her and hold her hand, but those ideas were clearly too modern for the hospital in which they found themselves.

"He's holding my damned hand!" Phryne growled from the chair, seething as another wave of pain clenched her. "He made this baby just the same as I did!"

Phryne shouted so aggressively that the nurse thought better than to continue arguing. The nurse looked nervously to Jack, shrugged, and didn't make a fuss about him following after them.

Jack had to smile when Phryne was helped onto the bed and he was standing there beside her, brushing her hair from her face. She always did have a way of getting what she needed, and he admired her for her strength. Even in misery, she was always so beautiful.

"Jack ... Jack, I don't think I can do this ..." she sobbed after a very lengthy contraction before he had grabbed her face and turned her to his understanding gaze.

"Phryne Fisher ... you are the most powerful and independent woman I know. And you can do this because you're strong and there is nothing you CAN'T do. Now you are going to bring this baby into the world. I am going to be right here and there is nothing that can stop you from delivering this baby."

The fear and panic in her eyes softened until she was only experiencing the physical pain and discomfort of labor. She took his hand again and breathed with watery eyes: "Jack ... I love you."

"I love you too," he said tenderly just as the doctor and another nurse entered the room and began working with Phryne to predict her needs and the timing of the labor. All of the events of the labor had begun slurring together for Jack who felt utterly helpless at the screaming pain Phryne felt that seemed to go on for days-on-end.

"The baby's coming," the doctor warned at last - much to the relief of a man sweating just as much as his panting wife. "Yes, it's coming ... keep pushing!"

The words were music to Jack's ears as he held onto Phryne's right hand with his left, since she'd thoroughly crushed his right. He was brimming with joy as the baby was at last pushed out from its womb to the bright lights of the hospital.

"It's a girl," echoed in his mind when suddenly something was wrong. His attention had been pulled from the baby to the woman at his side when her grasp loosened over his hand. "It's a baby girl!" the doctor was saying, but it sounded to Jack as though the words were said through a pool of water - drowning. His smile dropped when he noted the glazing look in Phryne's eyes. She looked to be going unconscious.

Jack's shock set in moments before one of the nurses tried ushering him out of the room while he frantically squeezed Phryne's hand and insisted to his semi-cognizant wife that she would be alright. One of the male staff had to rush in to pull him back from the room - explaining that to help Phryne, the doctor and nurses would need the room to themselves. Panicking wouldn't help her.

It was the longest wait of Jack's life, shaking in the chair just across the hallway because he had refused to leave the door. His mind went completely blank and he couldn't seem to focus on the colors of the floor when one of the nurses came out to tell him Phryne would be alright. Although the doctor had been very carefully selected for his experience in delivering, Jack was sick just allowing the very possibility that Phryne might not make it through the day. He was swept with such relief that he cried a constant, silent stream of tears even as he lifted to his feet when one of the nurses came out with a smile to tell him she was fine.

As he made his way back into the room, he could hardly breathe. Phryne was groggy when he re-entered, unable to keep her eyes open when the doctor explained to Jack that she had some post-birth complications, but that she was going to be alright. She needed to stay in the hospital for a few extra days, and she was going to have to take it easy for a while, but she was going to be just fine. Jack hated the "just fine" that seemed to taunt him. He could have lost her.

"Phryne ..." he whispered when only one nurse accompanied them in the small room, shakily taking his wife's limp hand in his. His chin quivered at the glazed expression he had seen before, but he closed his eyes and willed the tears away.

"She's clean but very tired," the nurse interrupted, and it was only after he looked over that he realized she was speaking about the baby. Jack reluctantly pulled his hand from Phryne only at the promise of seeing his baby girl for the first time. He steeled himself to walk over to the window, feeling weak and afraid as he looked down in the small, shallow crib to see a swaddled baby licking her lips and twisting her tiny little body against the fabric. Jack watched breathlessly - a baby girl.

Gently, he lowered his large hand to delicately cover the baby's swaddled stomach, venturing his finger up to touch a very soft cheek. He smiled to see the baby sound react to the touch, hearing the very first of many sounds he would come to associate with his child. After watching the squirming baby for another moment, he glanced back to the bed at Phryne - still terrified at the emotional trauma of the experience.

"Don't worry, she'll be just fine," the nurse assured him thoughtfully, checking Phryne's medical papers. "She'll be moved as soon as they make a nice bed for her in another room, though. I'll be in to help you shortly."

Jack breathed a little easier that Phryne had stabilized. They were moving her so she could simply rest and recover. He looked down to his beautiful baby girl, and he couldn't help but notice with a smile that she had the same arch of her mother's lips.

Twenty minutes later, Jack and Phryne were set up in another are of the hospital with the baby sleeping among the silent room.

It was then that Mac flew in through the hallway of the hospital toward reception, panting as she clung to the front desk: "Phryne ... Phryne Fisher! I've heard of the complications from downstairs! ... Where is she?"

Knowing only the delivery room, the stuttering nurse gave directions to the frantic doctor. Never had any of the nurses seen Mac so panicked.

In a whirlwind of action, Mac burst into the location she was given to see the nurses cleaning the area and moving some of the equipment. Mac panted as she heard some commotion from outside the room, and scanned the empty bed with a feeling of horror setting in at the sight of the blood. Something had happened to Phryne. The friend she loved and cared for more than she did her own family was - gone? No. Phryne wasn't dead. Phryne would never die - she had promised when they were young and foolish, but it counted just the same, Mac assured herself.

Just as Mac whipped around toward the door, the doctor stepped inside to see to the colleague he had spoken with earlier that morning in proper spirits.

"Mac, what're you-"

"Where is she?" Mac whispered, glaring at the man when he simply looked at her with confusion. Without the ability to ask in proper tone and courtesy, Mac pushed the doctor up against the wall by the front of his coat, staring at him with a manic fear from within: "Where is she?! You tell me where she is!"

"Miss ... F-Fisher? Good God, Mac, she's perfectly alright," he grumbled, brushing off his coat when she released him. "What on earth has gotten into you? You're nearly as bad as that husband of hers! ... I told him she would be fine."

The doctor watched his peer as Mac brought her hand up to her mouth to gather herself. He was surprised at the woman's strength and audacity. He never would have imagined a woman might act as boldly as a man. With a huff, he re-directed her search, and Mac headed toward the door before muttering over her shoulder: "My apologies."

"I'll say," he huffed.

Mac shut her eyes and forced herself to take long, calming breaths before heading to Phryne's room.

The hallway Mac had become so accustomed to seemed to take on a different form as she went to see her friend that day - still stricken with fear that something might take Phryne from her. That confident, sassy woman with all the fight in the world was only human, after all. Mac lost her way down the hall only once, but it was enough to remind her that she wasn't thinking clearly. It was a dizzying walk before she stood in the doorway of the room holding her closest friend, a sleeping baby, and a very worried inspector.

Mac watched in silence at the doorway, sympathizing with the way Jack sat slouched at Phryne's bedside - his back to the door - with both hands smoothing over his wife's. Mac imagined that might very well have been what she would be doing if she had been there in his stead. Mac stuffed her hands into her pockets, and leaned in the door frame with a smile for the new family of three.

Quietly, Mac moved into the room, resting a hand on Jack's shoulder to see him turn with exhaustion. It was a forced smile that greeted her: "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Mac answered, squeezing his shoulder while both of their eyes shifting to Phryne's unconscious form.

"There ... were complications, they said," Jack started quietly, bringing one hand up to comb through his hair. "I ... I worried so badly that I might lose her ..."

Mac swallowed at the dryness of her own mouth, hiding her tears well considering how distraught she felt inside. Both Mac and Phryne had been through so much together, and there laid her dear friend in some hospital bed, having endured complications without her. Mac sat on the bedside at Phryne's feet, and rested her hand on her friend's blanketed knee, offering kind words to the one man who had given Phryne great happiness: "She'll make it through, Jack."

The comfort of having Mac in the room was supportive and a welcome relief to his lonely thoughts. At Mac's kindness, Jack sighed: "I know."

"So how long has she been sleeping?" Mac asked - her voice so jagged, Jack knew the pain she must be hiding.

"Not long," he answered, rubbing his thumb over the back of Phryne's hand. "God, Mac ... I almost lost it back there ... watching her ..."

Mac interrupted so he wouldn't have to finish: "I can't imagine, Jack ... you're a braver soul than most to have been there at all. I don't know many husbands who stand there at their wife's side while she delivers."

Jack smiled up at Phryne's sleeping face, his mood very slightly improving. "Yes ... it was horrible ..." And then he cracked a smile at his next thought: "But you should have seen her when the nurse told me I wasn't welcome there."

Mac chuckled: "Did she strangle her?"

"I'm sure she would have if she could have gotten up from that chair they were wheeling her around in."

Mac laughed as quietly as she could, her eyes dancing over to the small crib with intrigue. "So ... a girl or a boy, then?"

"Girl," Jack said lovingly, still staring at Phryne as if he were willing her to wake up and soothe his desperate worries that something terrible was yet to come.

"I knew it," Mac teased, as if she had put much thought into the matter. Truth be told, she liked children, but she felt as Phryne always had in her earlier years about babies. Mac had a distinct lack of maternal instinct.

When the room was quiet again - void of cheery laughter or sad sighs - both concerned guests noted Phryne shifting in her sleep. They watched Phryne twist so that her hair fell over her face and her hands unconsciously pushed at the restrictive blankets she'd been tucked inside. Her husband and her friend watched for another moment until she settled, when Mac stood to find a chair.

After re-entering the room, Mac had no mind to meet the child Phryne hadn't met yet herself, so she brought in the chair and let it down on the other side of the bed. There she sat, propping her crossed ankles up on the other side of the bed, and slouched.

Jack accepted the wordless company with silence while they both rested and waited for Phryne to wake.

Mac was sleeping in her chair and Jack was sleeping with his arms folded on the side of the bed when Phryne woke up. She blinked her eyes, focused on the hospital room she was in, and scanned for the baby. If anything had happened to the baby, she didn't know what she would do. Had her body betrayed her so terribly?

It was then she realized the sound that had woken her: a small babbling little baby waking from a heavy sleep. Phryne saw a little fist over the top of the shallow crib sitting by the window, and she tightened her own hands into fists with relief. Her baby was okay.

Immediately at the squeeze of his hand, Jack awoke.

"Jack? ..." Phryne started, meeting those desperate eyes that teared up again at the familiarity in hers.

"Phryne ..." was all he could say. He simply touched her and looked into the eyes that had life surging through them once more.  
At the sound of shifting, Phryne smiled at the friend who had most certainly skipped out on work, too, to be sleeping there at her side. "Mac? ... How long have I been out?"

"Not long - a few hours. They can put you on some pain medication if you need it," Mac said in her doctorly tone once she sat up, rubbing her hand over Phryne's arm. "But you're gonna be alright. Do you ... remember what happened?"

Phryne looked to her left where Jack sat still holding her hand. "Yes, mostly ... but the baby's alright?"

"She's so beautiful," Jack started, cutting himself off just before his voice broke at the emotional impact of it all. He cleared his throat: "Just like her mother."

When Phryne's eyes immediately cut over to the crib again, Jack walked over and picked the baby up just like the nurse had shown him. Phryne watched the natural ease with which Jack did so, smiling at the sight as he brought the baby to her.

"Yes ... like that," he whispered gently as he leaned down and offered the swaddled baby to his wife. "Make sure you have her head."

"She's so tiny," Phryne giggled, despite the discomfort of her body. "Look at her ..."

He slowly lowered the baby to Phryne's arms, feeling the support shift as he drew away to watch Phryne's eyes water at the sight of their child. With the baby in Phryne's arms, Mac reached out to the baby's hand that had fought the swaddled fabric and freed itself.

"She's got some fight in her just like you," Mac laughed, trying to reposition the baby's arm into the cloth only to have the tiny, weak arms resist. "Even one day old. Fantastic. Remind me never to watch her in your absence."

Phryne laughed, and held the child close as she rested in her semi-seated position. "She's perfect."

"What have you decided to name her?" Mac asked curiously, smoothing her hand over the baby's swaddled feet. "Please tell me it's not Prudence."

Phryne and Jack both laughed, but Phryne was the one to answer Jack's pick for names, should they have a girl: "Adeline ... Adeline Fisher Robinson."

Jack's breath caught in his throat - the baby's last name would be his? He and Phryne hadn't decided on that, and there she was having made up her mind. "Phryne ...? Are you sure?"

"Of course. It would sound horrible the other way around," she teased, as if that were her reason. She smiled to tell Jack that she too understood how scary the day had been and that she so appreciated his company. She squeezed his hand to let him know that she needed him - that she WANTED the child to inherit his surname.

"I'm surprised you didn't go with some fancy French pronunciation like a-de-LEEN," Mac smirked, teasing her friend because it helped to remind her that she still could. Phryne was alive and well.

"It's a-de-LINE, and it's plenty 'fancy,' thank you very much," Phryne teased back so quickly that Mac was fully assured.

When Phryne looked back down to the baby, she found that she had never seen anything that tugged at her heart like her little girl. She knew instantly that she would do anything to keep that little bundle safe. It was a terrifying feeling to have something so precious in a world where catastrophes and accidents were a fact of life. Phryne smoothed a finger over the baby's cheek, and watched the little baby's mouth react.

"She'll be hungry," Mac explained, looking pointedly with great humor to Jack who only frowned with confusion. "Unless you care to show her how it's done, Inspector ...? Breastfeeding, that is."

Jack blushed and sat up a little straighter, staring at the smirk on Phryne's lips. He was so glad to have her back, melting at the very typical notes of her character that had always been as endearing. He stared at her while she connected with him - a long, special moment in time.

"I could come back ...?" Mac teased, earning two sets of guilty eyes.

"No no, come show me," Phryne corrected, adjusting the gown that she wore while Jack decided he was going to look for some water.

He browsed the halls until he found a nurse who could help him - oblivious to his surroundings until the next few days had passed and he had come to know their section of the hospital. He still frequented work, but made his days very short, and always came to check on Phryne and the baby.

It was ten days before Phryne was released from the hospital, having been visited by just about everyone she knew once she was feeling up to the company. Everyone she was close with had already seen the baby, and yet as the family made their way up to the house, Mr. Butler and Dot made a large fuss over the squirming baby and Miss Fisher's return.

Phryne stopped at Jack's side - the inspector holding the baby for the crowd as Phryne felt light-headed on the way over. Her body was mostly recovered, but she still found herself to be quite weak.

"She has your eyes, Inspector," Dot beamed, taking the baby in her own arms to fuss over it with Mr. Butler. It was an observation Phryne had made herself when they were alone in the hospital one evening, stroking his face. At the memory, Jack smiled.

"Yes, she does," Phryne answered for him, holding onto his steady arm.

"Shall we get you upstairs?" Jack offered to the woman who looked as though she could sleep for three days through. "Some rest in your own bed might do you a world of good," he added, knowing she had slept on-and-off for the past week or so.

Phryne accepted without argument, checking first that Mr. Butler and Dot were alright to watch Adeline while she slept. She made her way up the stairs with Jack at her side, as if she were still pregnant, and cursed under her breath that things hadn't changed as instantly as she would have liked.

"You'll be back to your usual self in no time," Jack said in his calm, confident tone of the law. "Don't worry - you'll be giving me grief any day now."

"Not soon enough," Phryne mumbled back when they had finally made it up the stairs to their bedroom. When she walked in, the smell and the look of her things soothed her immediately. She had become so used to the hospital smell that she was all the more grateful for being rid of it. She exhaled as Jack sat with her on the bed, gently peeling away her clothes.

"There," he whispered, helping Phryne to lie back when she suddenly flinched with discomfort and sat upright.

"Jack ... do you think I might be able to ... undress myself?"

Jack blinked: "... Of course you can."

"I'm sorry ... I'm ... I haven't even been able to look at myself naked in the mirror yet. I'd like to see myself before you do."

"Phryne - you're beautiful." He stood with her hands in his. "That hasn't changed just because you've given birth, and it never will." In a softer voice, lowering himself to one knee, he looked up at her darting, worried eyes. "And I hope you know I don't expect anything of you ... sexually ... for quite some time. Your body needs time to heal, and if in that time, you need me to give you some physical space, I'm only glad to do it."

She settled her eyes on his, inwardly chastising herself for becoming so melodramatic and emotional over her appearance.

"You could have ... something could have happened to you ... at that hospital," he started with the emotion in his own eyes, assuring her it was only natural. "But you're here and you're going to be alright, and ... well, there's not much more a man could ask for ... I will be patient, Love. Do you trust me?"

Phryne thought that she would always trust Jack - with everything - and especially with her discomfort at the changes of her body. In time, she knew he would do more than enough to soothe away any insecurities that might arise. "Yes ... of course I do."

"Okay," he smiled, leaning in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. "But don't mistake my giving you space for thinking I'm not still drawn to you. This will be very much as it was before I was able to touch you when you first started working alongside me."

Phryne looked down into her lap with the first blush she had experienced in a very long time. "Jack ..."

"You want me to touch you, and you just say the words. We can even fool around on the sofa."

Phryne laughed: "You hate 'fooling around' on the sofa."

"I hate getting CAUGHT," he corrected, grinning like a fool as he remembered back to a time Mr. Butler had caught them on the couch in the parlour - Phryne pinning him and kissing him down his neck. It was a moment in time he had always looked back on with blushing guilt, but as he knelt there before Phryne, he realized that he had grown rather fond of the memory. Only one woman had ever made him lose himself to whimsy with such abandon, and he greatly admired her for it.

Her lashes kissed twice at her own memory of Dot gasping and just nearly falling over her own two feet when she'd caught them in the hallway by the phone - Jack's hands uncharacteristically bold as they had snuck up Phryne's thigh in the open space. That had been a very awkward apology if ever there was one. Phryne opened her eyes again to Jack still kneeling before her, and sighed. "I hate that I don't feel like myself lately, Jack ... I'm just ... going to need some time with all this."

"Well, take all the time you need," he promised, getting swiftly to his feet to head to the door and deliver one of his signature, slanted nods. "Good day, Miss Fisher."

"Inspector," she grinned at the tease, dropping her shoulders back onto the bed with a heavy sigh at the familiarity around her. She closed her eyes and pushed all of her negative thoughts aside to smile and enjoy the soft feel of her comforters against her cheek. She smiled very widely, knowing that she would always be able to provide for the new baby, and that Adeline would never have to grow up on the streets like Phryne had done herself as a child.

Phryne took a very moments alone to think of her sister with fond memories, knowing that if Janey had been there, she would have loved Adeline's spirit, too. And then with another sigh, Phryne curled up on her bed and slept.

It was still Phryne occupying Jack's thoughts until he walked into the noisy parlour to see Dot holding the baby in one experienced arm - enjoying the feel of those little fingers on her thumb.

"Yes you are! ... Yes you are!"

Mr. Butler was just entering the scene when Jack leaned in the doorway and smiled. Adeline would, perhaps, have too MUCH attention. Or was that possible?

Dot's face seemed to lighten at the curious eyes of the baby, and Jack was pleased to see the change. The first time Dot had come to visit Phryne in the hospital, the color had been drained from her face and her hands were shaky. She hadn't even trusted herself to hold the baby, but rushed to sit next to Phryne on the hospital bed and ended up curling there next to the exhausted new mother. Jack had returned to see her sleeping next to Phryne with her arm tucked over - both women sleeping, in fact. Jack was surprised to see Dot so bold, but he knew it had everything to do with the warning he had given her upon her arrival to the hospital. Hugh had shown up only an hour later, neatly tripping but catching himself against the wall at the sight of Dot tangled in the bed there next to Phryne - as innocent as it was.

Jack chuckled there at the memories as he stood reflecting - entertaining ones to coax the sadder memories away. The parlour was such a grander sight than the pale walls of the hospital.

He sighed when the baby started to fuss again, thinking she must be hungry because he had just changed her before they'd left the hospital.

Dot stood and looked to the doorway where the inspector stood with hands in his pockets. "I'd hate to wake her, but ..."

"I know," Jack answered, opening his hands to the squirming baby. "I'll bring her up."

It was a relatively frustrating pattern that Jack began to understand as the weeks passed - just when Phryne needed rest the most, the baby needed her. He began wishing HE could breastfeed, for all the sense that made. He sometimes felt helpless at the hisses of pain Phryne gave out, too, but she always called him over to soothe his concerns.

"It just hurts sometimes when she latches on," she would smile, gesturing with her eyes for Jack to watch. But he didn't want to WATCH - he wanted to touch her. The more she relaxed into the processes of caring for their baby, the more Jack found himself ravenous to touch Phryne in the most possessive way. It was a sexual energy that completely absorbed him at all times of the day, gripping his thoughts at the most inconvenient of times. The thought of pressuring her irked him so that he never even mentioned to her how badly he wanted her, but the new more relaxing routines of the house had him relaxing, too. They had him more comfortably lusting after Phryne like he had always done, but Phryne seemed completely put-off by the idea of sex. She was still quite insecure about her body.

One evening, after he had lulled Adeline to sleep and rested her in her beautiful antique crib, Jack walked into the master bedroom and locked the door. He knew Phryne was bathing, and he was set on making her understand just how beautiful she was.

He fit himself into the door frame of the bathroom en suite - backwards so that he wouldn't leer at her or make her uncomfortable. His hands braced him to occupy the space, closing his eyes with a smile when he heard her little gasp.

"Phryne ... Today at work, I needed to excuse myself for an early lunch."

Phryne blinked as she sat with her arms curled around her legs in the steaming water of the tub, staring at Jack's back. "Wh ... what? Why? But you didn't come home ..." Immediately, she feared he was confessing something he had done. Had he been unfaithful to her? No, she answered to herself immediately. But the concern still lurked as he gathered the words.

"No, I didn't ... Because I needed to take care of something."

Arching one very distinct brow, Phryne thought she knew what he meant by that.

"I was thinking about you this morning, and I ... I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Yes, she had understood. Phryne relaxed her shoulders a little, and her brow relaxed itself down from her fringe as she listened to his honied voice.

"I know you're not ready, Phryne ... but the fact that you don't feel comfortable for me to see you without your clothes ... I would never want you thinking I don't care ... or that you need to somehow change for me to accept you."

The idea of his acceptance of her - free from physical changes - made her blush. Did he sincerely want her so badly as to make a declaration such as that? "Jack ... I'm only slowly losing the weight."

"Slowly? ..." he scoffed, closing his eyes with a vibrating laugh that was cut short when images of her squirming naked taunted him. "Phryne ... I want to look at you. As a man who is forever tempted by you, Phryne, I want you to see my reaction to you."

"That's what I'm worried about," Phryne said at first, looking at the water dripping from her knees before fixing her eyes on him again. "You ... are as you've always been, Jack ... but it will take my body time to be what you expect to see."

"I expect to see my wife naked," Jack quipped so uncharacteristically, Phryne actually laughed. It was a laugh with a rhythmic beat of its own. It was a laugh that had Phryne feeling a little more playful than usual in her drained and exhausted state.

"Alright ... but no touching or I put clothes on."

Jack nearly growled - was she toying with him? He thought he might melt. He certainly couldn't handle a playful, seductive Phryne in his current state. He was too weak for intention teasing. "Phryne ..."

"Well?" she prompted as if she had put no thought into revealing her naked body to him after all. "Turn around then if you want to see me so much."

Phryne was on her knees in the tub, so as not to slip - her head tilted downward to take account of her own body before looking up to see how Jack might react. There he stood, mouth parted just slightly and eyes burning through her like they always had. And when she allowed her eyes to dip a little lower, she smirked at how his trousers tugged tightly against him. She had to chuckle, finally covering her breasts with her hands.

"Well? ... I hope you got your fill," she teased, her eyes dancing so exuberantly Jack nearly lost all control, but he managed because he knew how sensitive she was.

"Yes ... for now," he rasped, memorizing her body as he stepped in toward the tub, clasping his hands behind his back as if to show that he wouldn't overstep. "But ... certainly I can watch you finish your bath ...?"

"I've never seen you look so hungry, Inspector," Phryne giggled, very much enjoying the attention he was doting on her. She helped herself back into the tub, resting her arms along the edges and closing her eyes to the crisp silence of the room. "It's ... not what I would expect from a man so controlled."

"Phryne ..."

She peeked one eye opened at the look on his face, and laughed again. "My God, Jack ... it's hardly even been a month since Addie was born ... surely you've been abstinent longer than a month before you met me."

"Never," he answered, although they both found humor in his obvious lie.

Phryne laughed and closed both eyes again, breathing steadily with the water lapping calmly against breasts that had grown larger out of necessity for the baby. She smiled to think that Jack was staring at them, but she tilted her head back and also admired the fact that he didn't see her as she saw herself. He didn't see her for her flaws or new markings. Jack saw her for the woman he loved, and she thought excitedly that perhaps THAT would never change.

"I'm truly sorry I don't have the appetite for what you want at this particular moment in time," Phryne said at last, bringing her knees up out of the water just to tease him because it was irresistible. She found it so much fun to tease him when he was so easily teased. "I know I so often am the one to initiate, and I AM sorry for your ... current predicament ... but I'm just not ready, Jack."

"No ... no, it's okay. I really ... just wanted to show you ... that my feelings haven't changed," he moaned helplessly, and she couldn't help but bite her lower lip at the sound of his desperate voice.

Jack quickly mumbled something about needing to go, and he hurried off just as Phryne opened her eyes again to his retreating figure.

When she heard him gasp and groan from the bedroom, Phryne relaxed fully in the tub, and thought that maybe she didn't have to worry about him seeing her naked after all. The teasing was so comfortably familiar, she wanted to moan, too, but she didn't wish to torment Jack too terribly. She had already shaken him enough for one afternoon, she thought. And with a smile, she acknowledged that she still might have to be cautious of her own nudity if she didn't wish to torture her very understanding husband. Well, maybe torture was a strong word.

"Uhnn," sounded from the other room, and Phryne let herself sink down into the tub where the water swallowed her chin. He was being quick about his own pleasure - she could hear it. He was rushing himself because he wanted to step back in and apologize for scurrying out from their conversation.

Phryne chuckled at the idea of polite apologies after he had just taken himself in-hand in the room attached to hers. And he was quite a vocal man when he had been driven mad with lust.

"God, Phryne ..." he growled, moaning and then panting while she felt a spark she hadn't felt since before her time at the hospital. She felt desire - desire to have seen what he'd just done.

When he poked his head back into the room a minute later, he looked much more relaxed: "I'm sorry, Love, but that's what you do to me. I certainly wish I could control it better, but ever since ... well, we've had a very passionate relationship, and I'm afraid you've affected me - for better or worse."

Phryne smiled authentically at him, relaxed at the idea of lying there naked before him for once in a very long time: "For better, Jack. Definitely for better."

"Even if I embarrass myself in the other room from time-to-time ...?"

"Well," Phryne started teasingly. "I'd like to think that next time, I'll be able to watch."

Jack flushed again, smiling nervously. "I don't know about that ..."

He had never done that in front of her before.

"Well, maybe some day then," she answered, and everything felt so familiar again that he stepped over and kissed her gently on the lips. With the spark back in her eyes, Jack dropped to his knee and stroked her hair - kissing her again and then taking his leave to allow her to bathe in peace.

It was only much later - after his shift at work - that he saw her again, in much different circumstances. During his shift, he had glowed with joy at the comfort she showed at revealing herself to him at last, although he didn't think on that long for fear of losing control all over again. Instead, Jack capitalized on the fact that Phryne was slowly re-gaining pieces of herself that she had somewhere along the rocky journey that saw her with their babe-in-arms. Phryne was slowly finding herself after the shocking experience of pregnancy and childbirth, and Jack couldn't have been happier to see her. With each piece that was revealed to him, his heart grew with fondness.

He came home looking for Phryne to see Mr. Butler at the door with a fond smile playing on his lips: "She's up in the nursery," he whispered, insinuating he had witnessed a very tender scene and wished Jack the same luxury - without disturbance to the mother and child. "Addie's had a loud few hours, Sir ... and Miss Fisher's just finally put her to sleep, I believe."

"Thank you," Jack said kindly, taking the stairs quietly, peeling his coat off and removing his hat just as he approached the nursery.

He was so touched at the scene that the coat folded over his arm almost dropped to the ground - the sight was so heavenly.

Phryne sat silently in the rocking chair at the window with the setting sun just hovering over the horizon. The glowing pink of the sky accented the soft purple of the room, and the resting faces of both mother and child - Adeline comfortably tucked in Phryne's arms. As serenely as both were resting, it would have looked as thought Phryne had fallen asleep as well if it weren't for the feet up on the windowsill, legs bent to continue the very slow, rocking motion of the chair. Jack smiled at the book braced strategically in her free hand, lips moving but not a sound reaching the doorway.

Jack wanted to walk over and kiss Phryne's shoulder, but he didn't want to wake the baby. He also didn't want to disturb a scene so perfect, so he opted to save it to his memory instead. He was certain the very thought of that moment would soothe away any worries or troubles he might face in the foreseeable future. He crossed his arms and leaned in the doorway, thinking how thankful he was for his healthy, happy family.


	4. With Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phryne and Jack talk about insecurities before soothing one another, and the following day presents some worry for Jack.

"Wouldn't that make more sense if you weren't lying on top of me?"

They were words Jack breathed quietly, keeping careful note of the suspect's movements overhead as he lay tucked under a bridge with his wife. He licked his lips with concern when the footsteps paused, and Phryne couldn't help but roll her eyes.

When the footsteps reversed and sounded loudly again in the opposite direction, Phryne whispered back to him: "It makes perfect sense - we just need to take things a little slower, Jack ... so you don't confuse a girl so thoroughly. My body still needs some time, but getting tangled up with you like this ..."

"-Need I remind you, YOU threw yourself on top of ME?-"

"... All this proximity makes me a little breathless, Inspector ..."

"Well we can't have that," he teased, even in the darkness that consumed them. She absently felt the curve of his lips with her finger, and then his smile faltered. "Don't you dare. Not here, Phryne ... you can't tease me like this ..."

"It's in my nature," she answered with such genuine candour that Jack naturally smiled again - feeling the pad of her finger trace along his lips.

"Miss Fisher ..." he teased back in as loving a tone as he ever used when suddenly the sounds overhead were distracting enough to see Phryne rolling off of him again and tucking herself around the bridge's arc to better hear the conversation of crime.

Jack had to hold back his thought process until later that evening - after they had caught the perpetrator - and just before the interrogation. He had wanted her since before the baby was born, but Phryne's body had needed rest. Then, standing in the corridor of City South Station after that most recent tease, he was thoroughly distracted.

Phryne was sitting in his office with a dirt-soiled outfit of chartreuse and gold. The pant suit didn't do her justice, Jack thought with a wry little smile as Phryne clasped her hands together and glanced around his office.

"Is Mr. Butler keeping Addie all night?" Jack asked without so much as a trace of that smile when Phryne fixed her eyes on him again.

"Hmm? Oh - Dot came by. She said something about a tradition for Addie's three-month birthday, and practically begged me to take her."

Jack's eyes lit with quiet excitement: "For the night?"

"No, I'm picking her up at ..." Phryne started, glancing down at her watch only to shoot out of her chair. "Heavens - now, I suppose."

Jack fixed his eyes down on his desk as his wife hopped out of his office - waving goodbye over her shoulder.

They had come to an understanding that they took turns caring for Adaline in such situations of criminal mystery - Jack took his place at the station one adventurous night, and Phryne the next. It was a system they had found was the easiest and fairest of their options since Phryne had expressed her need to remain as involved in detective work post-baby.

"Details, Robinson!" she called out then, as she hurried out of the station, prompting Jack's instinctive smile to take over his face. She would pump him for details later that night, he knew.

Jack closed his eyes at the thought of keeping some of those details from her. He had thought up a creative game since Phryne's libido had sunk after the baby - a game in which he enjoyed reminding her exactly what she had always craved. With kisses and seemingly innocent touches in their bed once the room had gone dark, Jack had lately taken to reminding Phryne of those lustful feelings she had always entertained so thoroughly. It was a game in which Phryne was not an unwilling participant, but hesitant at times.

Phryne's growing libido worried her, in fact. Ever since the first month or so after the baby, Phryne had started feeling tremors of excitement around Jack - particularly when investigating together and out of sight of the little bundle she tirelessly cared for. She felt, however, that her more amorous feelings toward Jack would only get her into trouble. Her whole adult life before Adaline, she had found great pleasure and joy in exercising her right to sexual proclivities, but she worried after the birth of her baby that those exercises might not continue to be as pleasurable. What if they only gave her pain, and what if that was more than she could compromise?

Phryne exhaled in the parlour to those very thoughts after having put baby Adaline to bed. She dangled her glass of scotch over her slimming abdomen, and relaxed in the chaise with silence surrounding her.

The quiet twist of the door just an hour or so later saw Jack into the foyer, and Phryne on her feet to pull her robe tighter around her sides. She looped a knot around her waist, and smiled at the exhaustion she could see in her husband's posture. He always did look so appetizing after a night of interrogating. And that stirring between her legs was certainly a welcome guest ...

Padding quietly over to him, she slipped her hands around him over his coat, and smiled against his shoulder at the startled inhale she heard in return.

"Phryne! ... I didn't think you'd still be up," he whispered, resting his arm over both of hers before letting himself out of his coat and turning to the warm woman behind him. "What're you doing up?"

It was always so difficult not to smirk when Phryne caught one of Jack's more serious expressions. He had a way of appearing as a sort of statue with the unflappable and stern features he held.

"Oh, Jack ... no need to be so ... well, such a detective ... can't you be Mr. Fisher just for tonight?" The question had always implied she intended on him bending to her every whim, just as she had meant it so many times before. In so many ways.

Jack's questioning gaze turned warm instantly at her phrasing - hanging his hat on the hook toward the door and then turning back to Phryne to take her face in his hands: "Am I always Mr. Fisher, or is there some Robinson left?"

"And what am I to you, Jack? ... Hmm?" she grinned playfully, reminding Jack of the wide grins she always tossed back at him in the midst of adventure: "Mrs. Robinson?"

"I know better than to put labels on you," he answered smartly, tucking her hair behind her ear, and glancing up toward the stairs when the baby started to cry. His smile dropped at the mood he knew would be dampened if the baby were to cry all night, but he forced away his worries as he moved past Phryne to the stairs. "I'll meet you upstairs. I'll put her to sleep."

"You will? Right after your long shift at the station?" Phryne asked, turning to watch him climb the stairs with all the enthusiasm he could muster. "For no reason, am I supposed to believe?"

Jack simply chuckled and hurried up the stairs to the fussing infant in her crib.

Phryne crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at the discomfort of larger breasts than she had ever been used to before. Then her smile widened when she thought that Jack very much enjoyed the inconvenient size. She had caught him staring enough to know for certain he did. Phryne's smile dropped, however, because her entire body was constantly changing, and she didn't feel as though she could count on anything to remain constant. She felt unsettled even as she climbed her stairs that night up to bed, and remained unsettled under the covers.

She laid uncertainly - alone - until she felt Jack climb into the bed at her side.

"Jack ...?" she moaned sleepily, reaching for his arm when it draped warmly over her and a comforting voice whispered tenderly over her shoulder.

"No ... it's a thief in the night."

"Oh my ... but with such nice arms ..." Phryne teased, stroking his arm in so flirtatious a fashion that Jack couldn't find it in his control to teasingly pull away.

He tingled at her touch, and pulled her a little closer, inhaling into her hair: "Here to steal you away ..."

"Well I hope for your sake you're a very talented thief, because I won't go easily," Phryne whispered with the light, loose laughter she had always shared privately with Jack. With only Jack.

"Something keeping you here, is there?"

"Oh, just a beautiful family and all the most perfect friends a woman could ask for."

"Is that all?" he whispered again, giving away his hunger with the way he pulled her flush against him. He released her when he remembered how uncertain she'd been lately, and kissed her neck instead. A trail of kisses started at her ear, and slowly travelled down her squirming neck to her shoulder.

"Jack ..."

"How do you know who it is?" he smiled onto her shoulder, basking in the seduction he could often begin in the darkness of the night. A seduction she often stopped just about then.

"Mmm ... that voice ... and because I know the way you touch me ..."

Jack swallowed hard when she reached back to smooth her hand over the fabric at his thigh - enthusing him a little closer. He faltered for a long moment until he heard a long, ragged sigh escape her lips.

"... How do I touch you?"

"So carefully ... like you think I'll break ..."

"Not always ..."

"You do at first," she moaned, embraced with both his hands at her chest to prove that he wasn't always a careful man. There were many nights - admittedly before the addition to their family had arrived - where he had initiated a magnificently sordid affair or two beneath the sheets.

He knew she was sensitive, so he was careful - and he heard no complaints. She was squirming in his arms, just like she always did.

"Phryne ..." he moaned through her hair, encouraged that she hadn't needed her space or felt self-conscious by his touch.

He kept her perfect body close, and made himself brave with the panted gasps escaping her unpainted lips.

"Jack ..." she breathed excitedly - clasping at his arm across her chest when his other hand had found its way between her legs. The material of her robe served as a cautious barrier to fingers that pressed against her all the same. "Jack! ... Oh God ..."

He didn't feel the need to remind her she could stop him - she HAD stopped him many times before. Phryne was not the sort of woman to go along with sexual activity for the sake of doing so, and with that knowledge, Jack pressed on. If he could just please her - if he could just remind her how much she always wanted him ...

"That feels so good ..." she purred quietly, part of her words whispered with both her knees still kept together. She laid, squirming her hips while he very subtly slipped his hand against her abdomen. Into her robe.

He inhaled at the sensation of her skin against his. He kissed her neck again and pulled her robe opened with both hands at her allowance of touch. When she wriggled out of it, he all but growled.

"Let me have you," he panted just the way he always did when he wanted to go down on her. It was the only time he referred to their lovemaking possessively.

Phryne blushed an outrageous shade of pink she was glad to hide in the dark, and rolled onto her back to reach out to him. "You poor man ... look how desperate I've made you ..."

Jack smiled at the love in her voice as she spoke, studying the curves of her body even in the silenced light of the moon. He was so distracted that instead of an answer, he dipped closer, and laid a kiss between her breasts. He gave each one some gentle attention before kissing, with an open mouth and an eager tongue, down her abdomen.

Instead of going slowly and teasing her as he made his way between her legs, Jack kissed and licked her as though he were racing to the finish. Phryne slowed him with her hands in his hair - combing through to gently massage his worries away. Of course there had been nights when the baby had interrupted something he had started of a sexual nature, but that night, things were different. Even if Jack had to leave or if she tucked herself away for a while, the fire would remain. He had shown her too much to be forgotten. The fire was slow-burning and sure.

Phryne grinned as he ran his hands over her legs, thinking that if Jack were married to a more traditional woman, a few months of sexless nights might not have been so difficult. Expected, even on any given month! As it were, she had always instigated things so often with Jack that even a week of her sexual inactivity was noticed. She had a very mischievous sexual appetite, and a love for flirtations, that Jack had come to enjoy sating the wilder desires. Lately, however, he had given her the space she needed - but his tongue? She wasn't turning it away just yet. She didn't think she could.

The arch that Phryne accentuated with another squirm of her hips sent Jack into a frenzy. He laced his arms under her thighs, and pulled her lower into bed with his hands at her sides - planting his lips between her legs just as she gasped at the sensation.

He released his tongue as slowly as he could manage, listening carefully for any uncertainty in her voice. What he heard, however, only enthused him.

"Oh, Jack ... don't stop ..."

It had been so long - three months - before he had been able to enjoy the pleasures of her body. It had been three months since he had tasted her, and for that, he held her tighter. He dipped his tongue inside of her, and rhythmically soothed her until she trembled.

"Jack! ..."

It was addicting, hearing those pleas for release he had never appreciated quite so much before. She needed him again. She needed him sexually, to feel completely sated. Phryne Fisher was squirming for him.

Uncertain at first, Phryne had been reminded of that electric surge of need she had felt for him so many nights before. She had been kissed, touched, and manhandled into the middle of the bed where Jack was eating her quite indecently. She was on the verge of climax at the very thought of it all.

Her fantasy settled nicely on a memory of Jack having her almost as desperately on other occasions, realizing that this would sit distinctively among other fantasies for years to come. This Jack with those hands and that tongue ... the desperation had her arms stretching outward, her back arching to the relentless pace of his tongue. He certainly did know her body ...

All uncertainty was forgotten - Jack could feel the looseness of her body in his hands. His fingers kneaded her sides as he kept her there in his arms - devouring her.

When the phone rang suddenly, Jack growled and pulled her just a little closer toward the foot of the bed. Earning a little gasp as he focused all of his attentions to distract her completely.

It was as if the phone hadn't existed. Phryne suddenly became quite oblivious to everything around her as she felt a delightful warning of an orgasm wash over her. How long had it been since she'd felt that sensation? How long had it been since she had wanted to feel it?

"Jack," Phryne whispered over the sound of the phone, as if it were non-existent, warming Jack to his core. He thought he could cry at the way she revealed herself to him so suddenly. So perfectly.

How could she be so suddenly unafraid? She had always amazed him, and there she was – jumping into the pool of her insecurities almost as willingly as she jumped into trouble. She was amazing him still.

She came trembling in his arms, with her body shaking and her hands grabbing desperately at his shirt. She had yearned to undress him so many times before just to look at him, but hadn’t done it to keep from teasing him with a promise of more. She hadn’t been ready, but was she ready then? She sucked in a deep breath as he helped her with his shirt, climbing on top of her. But then he showed her his careful consideration even while he kissed over her neck and pinned her wrists.

“Phryne … Love … I won’t do anything until you’re ready … just … let me kiss you …”

“I want to be ready,” she said whispered in his ear, tightening her legs around him with concern at her own hesitations. “This isn’t like me …”

“Your body just needs time …” he panted, moving his hands hurriedly to her night shirt to push it up and kiss her chest as gently as he was able.

“Yours certainly doesn’t,” Phryne smiled through teary eyes, silenced when he paused to look up at her.

“Phryne … you don’t have to worry. I won’t push you.”

“Jack … I’m worried I won’t ever be ready again … what if I’m always this … s-scared?”

“Am I scaring you?”

“No … not you, Jack.”

Hunger fading, Jack rolled to her side, where he could look at her more closely without pressing against her. He hadn’t often seen that look in her eyes, and he wasn’t about to ignore it. “Some women I hear … it takes them quite a while to feel ready … and that’s okay, Phryne. It might be uncomfortable. I don’t pretend to have an expert opinion on the matter. I’m just a man who loves the woman he’s with. A man who is very excited to touch and kiss her … and a man who is willing to wait as long as it takes to do it.”

“I’m afraid I’m driving you crazy,” she laughed out of frustration, bringing her hands up to her eyes. “And it feels so good … it felt so good, Jack … I don’t want you to stop wanting me.”

“Come here,” Jack said, seeing her insecurities for what they were: figments of her imagining. She was simply worrying, and she needed his shoulder to cry on. “Come here, Love.”

That night Phryne fell asleep draped over Jack’s chest – his hands playing with strands of her hair. She was lulled with the steady beat of his heart and the loyalty he had always shown to her.

They both awoke in the middle of the night to the baby’s cries, but Phryne slipped out of bed to give Jack the chance to catch up on some sleep. She padded across the hall without a robe – only a long, silver night shirt that hung loosely at her thighs – and left the light off as she sleepily walked to the baby’s crib.

“Not tired, are you?” she asked gently, lifting her daughter to her chest to soothe the baby with the warmth and comfort of her arms. The crying was still consistent, but quieter. “There there …”

Phryne changed her little girl, tried feeding her, and then paced around the room with the baby in an almost trance-like state. When she humming quietly to the baby and lulling the baby to sleep, she heard a whisper from the door. When she turned, she saw Jack gesturing to the little infant fast asleep on her shoulder, and Phryne had to smile. She’d been so tired she hadn’t even noticed.

Jack crossed the room and put his hand gently at the back of Adeline’s head with the other on Phryne’s shoulder – kissing his wife gently and gesturing to take the baby. He had always been better able to transfer the baby to bed without waking her.

Once Adeline was back in her crib, Phryne shook her head and headed back toward their bedroom. “You’ll have to show me how you do that one of these days.” Jack stood in the doorway of their en suite while Phryne washed her hands and combed her wet hands through her hair.

“Are you going to try to steal my shift at the station again tomorrow?” he asked quietly, smirking when she rolled her eyes animatedly.

“It’s yours to have. I’m sleeping tomorrow. I get Thursday and Friday.”

“No sleuthing?”

“No sleuthing.”

“For some reason, I have the sneaking feeling, you’ll show up.”

“Why?”

“Because mischief is in your nature.”

“Handsome man …” she whispered once he closed the space between them, circling her waist with his arms. She nestled against him and smiled: “No sleuthing. I’m taking Addie to the park tomorrow afternoon, remember?”

“Well, keep watch or she’ll be climbing the trees.”

“She’s just a baby, Jack,” Phryne chuckled against him, closing her eyes at the familiar smell and feel of him. She thought she had never felt so close to anyone. She was falling asleep standing up.

His comforting voice brought a sleepy smile to her lips: “Well if she has your zest for life and mischievous spirit … anything is possible. So be careful.”

He had, in fact, been teasing, but found himself seriously alarmed the next day with news of a murder at the park. The victim was male, but Jack raced to the park regardless – with Hugh clinging to the passenger door of the police cruiser. Jack just nearly parked up on the curb before racing across the field to see Phryne and Adeline perfectly safe, lying together on a picnic blanket. Adeline with her big blue eyes and soft baby cheeks lying on Phryne’s stomach – the fabric of Phryne’s dress bunched up in the chubby little fists.

Jack made certain not to run – although he felt like running to his family with relief – for fear of worrying Phryne needlessly. Or alerting her to the latest mystery.

“Oh, good – you’re here,” Phryne said gleefully, resting both hands on Adeline’s tiny back as Jack paced toward them. “Can you come lie here with Addie so I can take someone in for questioning?”

“Wh- … What?” Jack panted, confused with the soft tone of Phryne’s voice and the trouble of which she spoke. “Take someone in? Who?”

“I saw a suspicious couple scurrying out of here after I saw the first police cruiser come by.”

“And you didn’t take Adeline home?!”

“Yes, Jack – I most certainly should have let you assume we’d been murdered, too,” she finished dryly, shifting baby Addie over her stomach so she could sit. “Glorious plan. And knowing you, you would have logically called home after driving safely back to the station, right? Jack – I would have waited elsewhere if I sensed any danger toward us. Don’t you know that by now? That we both love Addie as much?”

Jack put his fists to his hips and bit his cheek to take in her logical points. He tensed, and then looked to her as she stood in her beautiful coral sun dress with Adeline at her hip.

“I’m sorry … I was afraid something had happened to you. Either of you.”

“You can make it up to me by taking her back to the car while I go hurry after that couple. I think I know where they were headed.”

“You- … Wait, how-“

“Hold these,” Phryne smiled, slipping off her elegant shoes and handing them over. She had a significant glow to her cheeks as she always did in times of physical and intellectual challenge – in times of mystery – and Jack could only watch after his beautiful wife as she took off running across the grass. Barefoot.

“You had better not enjoy danger as much as your mother once you’re grown,” Jack sighed mostly to himself before looking to his daughter and her wide, curious eyes. He had to chuckle at the innocence he saw on her face then, as if she would always be as oblivious to the world around her.

“Well …” he continued, taking one last look at Phryne as she ran across the street barefoot – followed by two other officers who saw the same link she’d seen earlier. “You can figure out the mysteries of life, but please – for everyone’s sake – don’t go running off after the _armed _criminals. Is that a deal?”__

__When he heard some cooing in response, Jack started off to the car, chuckling._ _

__“Can I get that in writing?”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
